• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.293-298
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• 2009

We prepared densified wood pellet by agricultural waste. The hemp woody core was used as replacing wood resource. Hemp was separated into the bast fiber and the woody core by hot steaming treatment. The hemp woody core had a similar lignin content(19.4%) and carbohydrate composition with hardwood(20-25% lignin in hardwood), respectively. Also, the hemp had a low ash content(0.5%), which resulted in a low ash formation in pellet burning. Heating value of the hemp pellet(18.40 MJ/kg) had a very similar to the pellet made by hardwoods. The hemp woody core could be replaced the hardwood for densified wood pellet.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.417-424
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• 2015

In this study, the pretreatment of Helianthus tuberosus residue had been performed. The two-stage pretreatment on flow-through process were applied in the interests of increase of sugar production yield on enzymatic saccharification. The delignification by aqueous ammonia and the fractionation of hemicellulose by sulfuric acid solution as pretreatment solution were confirmed for effects of enzymatic saccharification. Two-stage pretreatment process was performed using aqueous ammonia and sulfuric acid. The first step was performed with aqueous ammonia for 40 min at $163.2^{\circ}C$ and the second step was performed with sulfuric acid solution for 20 min at $169.7^{\circ}C$. And then, the first step was performed with sulfuric acid solution and the second step was pretreated with aqueous ammonia. At this time, the glucose production was 30.7 g and the glucose yield was 72.4% in the first step process with aqueous ammonia. And, the glucose production was 20.9 g and the glucose yield was 49.3% in the first step process with sulfuric acid solution.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.109-115
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• 2023

The extraction and adsorption characteristics for three phenolic ketones with high physicochemical similarity among phenolic compounds, which are alcohol fermentation inhibitors in lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates, were investigated. The most suitable basic extractant for selectively separating acetosyringone from three phenol ketones by reactive extraction was found to be trioctylphosphine oxide. In addition, it was found that adsorption using XAD16, a polymer neutral resin adsorbent, or physical extraction using hexane, was a suitable separation method for separation of 4'-hydroxyacetophenone (HAP) and acetovanillone (AVO). A five-step fractionation process including extraction and adsorption mentioned above has been first proposed to separate and concentrate the three phenol ketones present at equal mass percentages. When physical extraction with n-hexane and re-extraction with an aqueous NaOH solution were used as the steps 4 and 5 in the fractionation process respectively, it was possible to obtain almost 70% or more of the purity of three phenolic ketones.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.547-560
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• 2010

The optimum culture condition of Schizophyllum commune for the cellulase production and its enzymatic characteristics for saccharification of cellulosic biomass were analyzed. S. commune secrets ${\beta}$-1,4-xylosidase (BXL) and cellulases, including endo-${\beta}$-1,4-glucanase (EG), cellobiohydrolase (CBH), and ${\beta}$-glucosidase (BGL). The optimum reaction temperature for all cellulases was $50^{\circ}C$ and the thermostable range was $30{\sim}40^{\circ}C$C. The optimum reaction pH for all cellulases was 5.5 in a range of temperature from $0^{\circ}C$ to $55^{\circ}C$. The best nutritions for the cellulase production of S. commune among tested nutrients were 2% cellulose for the carbon source and corn steep liquor or peptone/yeast extract for the nitrogen source without vitamins. The environmental culture condition for the cellulase production was 5.5~6.0 for pH at $25{\sim}30^{\circ}C$. The enzyme activities of EG, BGL, CBH, and BXL were 3670.5, 631.9, 398.5, and 15.2 U/$m{\ell}$, respectively, after concentration forty times from the culture broth of S. commune which was grown at the optimized culture condition. Alternative filter paper unit assay showed 11 FPU/$m{\ell}$ enzyme activity. The saccharification tests using cellulase of S. commune showed the low saccharification rate on tested hardwoods but a high value of 50.5% on cellulose, respectively. The saccharification rate (50.5%) of cellulose by cellulase produced in this work is higher than 45.7% in the commercial enzyme (Celluclast 1.5L, 30 FPU/g, glucan).

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.89-95
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• 2009

Because of high contents of cellulose (~37 wt%) and hemicellulose (~17%), rice straw seems to be a potential lignocellulosic biomass for production of bioethanol. In this study, Ammonia Recycled Percolation (ARP) pretreatment of rice straw was extensively investigated. In particular, the experimental study included the effects of temperature, reaction time and concentration of ammonia on compositions and enzymatic digestibility of the resulting solid residues; the ranges of pretreatment conditions were, in turn, $150{\sim}190^{\circ}C$, 10~90 min and 0~20 wt%. Through ARP pretreatment, the lignin content was reduced by as high as ~84% while 20~80% of the hemicellulose was also solubilized. The solid residue resulted from the pretreatment with 15 wt% aqueous ammonia solution at $170^{\circ}C$ for 90 mim showed as high as ~90% of digestibility with 15FPU/g of glucan enzyme loading. Supplement of xylanese to cellulase led to a notable enhancement of digestibility, indicating a discernable inhibitory role of hemicellulose. Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) and Simultaneous Saccharification and Co-Fermentation (SSCF) were performed to obtain ethanol productions of 13.8 g/L (corresponding to 81% yield) and 15 g/L (corresponding to 89% yield), respectively.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2017

Cellulosic biomass is a renewable source for biofuel production from non-edible biomass. An optimized pretreatment process is required for the efficient utilization of cellulosic biomass. Among various pretreatment processes, the use of ionic liquids has been reported recently. However, the residual ionic liquid after pretreatment acts as an inhibitor of microbial fermentation. Recently, we isolated mutant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains resistant to the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([EMIM][Ac]) by using a directed evolutionary approach. When 3% [EMIM][Ac] was added to a medium containing 80 g/l of glucose, mutants D452-B2 and D452-S3 produced 35.6 g/l and 36.3 g/l of ethanol, respectively, for 18 h while the parental strain (S. cerevisiae D452-2) produced 1.3 g/l of ethanol. Thus, these mutant S. cerevisiae strains might prove advantageous when ionic liquids are used for biofuel production from cellulosic biomass.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.705-715
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• 2016

The main aim of this study was to investigate the potential of wood charcoal on removing furan compounds (5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), furfural) known as fermentation inhibitors in sugar hydrolysates obtained from supercritical water treatment of lignocellulosic biomass. For this aim, model hydrolysate was prepared, and removal rates of sugars or furan compounds depending on wood charcoal concentration and treatment time were calculated and analyzed in comparison with the case of activated carbon. 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12% (w/v) of wood charcoal or activated carbon was loaded into the model hydrolysate, containing glucose, xylose, 5-HMF, and furfural, and treatment was conducted for 1, 3, 6, 12, or 24 h. After treatment, removal rates of 5-HMF and furfural gradually increased as wood charcoal concentration or treatment time increased, and over 95% of 5-HMF and furfural were removed at 8% of wood charcoal concentration and 3 h of treatment time, while the loss of sugars (< 2%) was hardly observed. On the other hand, in the case of activated carbon treatment, removal rates of 5-HMF and furfural were over 95% at mild condition (activated carbon concentration: 8%, treatment time: 1 h), but over 10% of glucose and xylose were removed. Therefore, considering sugar production and further process applied sugar, the wood charcoal treatment of sugar hydrolysate was more effective for removing furan compounds and maintaining the sugar yield.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.54-61
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• 2012

In this study, the adsorption of $Cu^{2+}$ from aqueous solution by the biochar derived from woody biomass at different pyrolysis temperatures has been investigated. The woody biomass wastes used in this study were branch of willow ($Salix$ $koreensis$ $Andersson$) and bark of chestnut ($Castanea$ $crenata$ $var.$ $dulcis$). Three biochar samples prepared by heating each biomass at temperature of $300^{\circ}C$, $500^{\circ}C$, and $700^{\circ}C$were tested for the adsorption capacity of Cu. Also the physicochemical properties of the developed biochars were studied using different characterization techniques such as FT-IR, SEM, BET surface area, and cation exchange capacity (CEC). The adsorption of Cu could be well described by Langmuir model for both willow and chestnut biochars with $R^2{\geq}0.98$. The maximum adsorption capacities of the biochar produced at $700^{\circ}C$ from the Langmuir equation were found to be 12.5 mg $g^{-1}$ and 16.9 mg $g^{-1}$ for willow and chestnut, respectively. Chestnut biochar was found to interact more effectively with the active sites available for Cu, resulting higher removal of Cu(II) than wiloow biochar. Ion exchange and surface complexation found to be the main mechanisms involved in the adsorption process. This study demonstrated the feasibility of the biochars derived from woody biomass to be as a low-cost potential adsorbent for heavy metals as Cu(II) removal in aquatic system.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.19-32
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• 2013

In this study, outstanding white rot fungi for biodegradation of organosolv lignin were selected on the basis of their ligninolytic enzyme system. Fifteen white rot fungi were evaluated for their ability to decolorize Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR) in SSC and MEB medium, respectively. Six white rot fungi (Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, Ceriporia lacerate, Fomitopsis insularis, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Polyporus brumalis, and Stereum hirsutum) decolorized RBBR rapidly in SSC medium within 3 days. The protein contents as well as the activities of manganese peroxidase (MnP) and laccase for 6 selected fungi were determined on the SSC medium with and without organosolv lignin. Interestingly, extracellular protein concentrations were determined to relative higher for S. hirsutum and P. chrysosporium in the presence of organosolv lignin than others. On the other hands, each fungus showed a different ligninolytic enzyme pattern. Among them, F. insularis resulted the highest ligninolytic enzyme activities on incubation day 6, indicating of 1,545 U/mg of MnP activity and 1,259 U/mg of laccase activity. In conclusion, $STH^*$ and FOI were considered as outstanding fungi for biodegradation of organosolv lignin, because $STH^*$ showed high extracellular protein contents and ligninolytic enzyme activities over all, and ligninolytic enzyme activities of FOI were the highest among white rot fungi used in this study.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2014

This is to study the effects of various pretreatment methods of agricultural residue, corn stover, and to compare the feature and pros and cons of each method including dilute sulfuric acid (DSA), soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA), and ammonia recycle percolation (ARP). In order to convert corn stover to ethanol, various pretreatments followed by simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) were tested and evaluated in terms of ethanol yield. With 3%, w/w of glucan loading using ARP-, DSA-, and SAA-treated solids, SSCFs using recombinant E. coli strain (ATCC$^{(R)}$ 55124) with commercial enzymes (15 FPU of Spezyme CP/g-glucan and 30 CBU/g-glucan enzyme loading) were tested. In the SSCF tests, 87, 90, and 78% of theoretical maximum ethanol yield were observed using ARP-, DSA-, and SAA-treated solids, respectively, which were 69, 58, and 74% on the basis of total carbohydrates (glucan + xylan) in the untreated corn stover. Ethanol yield of SAA-treated solid was higher than those of ARP- and DSA-treated solids. In addition, SSCF test using treated solids plus pretreated hydrolysate indicated that the DSA-treated hydrolysate showed the strongest inhibition effect on the KO11 strain, whereas the ARP-treated hydrolysate was found to have the second strongest inhibition effect. Bioconversion scheme using SAA pretreatment and SSCF can make the downstream process simple, which is suggested to produce ethanol economically because utilization of hemicellulose in the hydrolysate is not necessary.