Steam Explosion Pretreatment and Saccharification of Lignocellulosic Biomass

The efficient conversion of lignocellulosic biomass is a worldwide scientific and technological issue. Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis are two key unit operations in which biomass is fractionated into fermentable sugars and then used for biofuels and biochemical production. Steam explosion has been recognized as one of the most effective pretreatments, which improves the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis performance. High solids enzymatic hydrolysis could improve overall productivity and reduce the cost of enzymatic hydrolysis. This chapter mainly introduced steam explosion pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis in biorefining, analyzed the principle of steam explosion and its action mechanism on lignocellulosic biomass, and introduced periodic peristalsis technology in the system of high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis, in order to improve the widespread interpretation and application of steam explosion pretreatment and periodic peristalsis enzymatic saccharification in biorefinery field.