Integrated Production of Biofuels and Succinic Acid from Biomass after Thermochemical Pretreatments

The aim of this study was to develop an effective thermochemical method for treatment of industrial hemp, in order to increase its bioconversion to biofuels and bio-products. Industrial hemp was subjected to various thermochemical pretreatments using: alkaline (3 % NaOH), oxidative (3 % H₂O₂ at pH 11.5) and glycerol-based methods (70-90 % of glycerol, 1-3 % NaOH), prior to enzymatic hydrolysis with Cellic^® CTec2/Cellic^® HTec2 (15 FPU∙g⁻¹ glucan). Innovative pretreatment with glycerol fraction (80 % glycerol content, 2 % NaOH, 12.5 % biomass loading) showed to be superior over commonly used alkaline and oxidative methods with respect to by-products generation and sugar losses. Integrated process of ethanol production from enriched cellulose fraction (172 kg EtOH∙Mg⁻¹ of dry hemp) and succinic production from xylose-rich residue after ethanol fermentation (59 kg∙Mg⁻¹ of dry hemp) allowed to convert about 97 % of sugars released (glucose and xylose) during enzymatic hydrolysis of pre-treated biomass. The present study showed that it is possible to replace 50 % of the costly yeast extract, used during succinic fermentation as nitrogen source, by alternative nitrogen source (rapeseed cakes) without significant deterioration of succinic yield. Pretreatment liquor after lignin precipitation (52 kg∙Mg⁻¹ of biomass treated) exhibited a high biodegradability (92 %) and allowed to produce 420 m³ CH_4/Mg VS). Results obtained in this study clearly document the possibility of biofuels (bioethanol, biogas) and bio-chemicals production from industrial hemp, in a biorefinery approach.