Objectives The biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic
biomass into renewable fuels and chemicals
provides new challenges for industrial scale processes.
One such process, which has received little attention,
but is of great importance for efficient product
recovery, is solid–liquid separations, which may occur
both after pretreatment and after the enzymatic
hydrolysis steps. Due to the changing nature of the
solid biomass during processing, the solid–liquid
separation properties of the biomass can also change.
The objective of this study was to show the effect of
enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose upon the water
retention properties of pretreated biomass over the
course of the hydrolysis reaction.
Results Water retention value measurements, coupled
with 1H NMR T2 relaxometry data, showed an
increase in water retention and constraint of water by
the biomass with increasing levels of cellulose
hydrolysis. This correlated with an increase in the
fines fraction and a decrease in particle size, suggesting
that structural decomposition rather than changes
in chemical composition was the most dominant
characteristic.
Conclusions With increased water retained by the
insoluble fraction as cellulose hydrolysis proceeds, it
may prove more difficult to efficiently separate
hydrolysis residues from the liquid fraction with
improved hydrolysis