Aqueous Pretreatment of Plant Biomass for Biological and Chemical Conversion to Fuels and Chemicals (Electronic book text, 1st edition)

Plant biomass is attracting increasing attention as a sustainable resource for large-scale production of renewable fuels and chemicals. However, in order to successfully compete with petroleum, it is vital that biomass conversion processes are designed to minimize costs and maximize yields. Advances in pretreatment technology are critical in order to develop high-yielding, cost-competitive routes to renewable fuels and chemicals.

"Aqueous Pretreatment of Plant Biomass for Biological and Chemical Conversion to Fuels and Chemicals" presents a comprehensive overview of the currently available aqueous pretreatment technologies for cellulosic biomass, highlighting the fundamental chemistry and biology of each method, key attributes and limitations, and opportunities for future advances.

Topics covered include:

OCoaThe importance of biomass conversion to fuelsOCoaThe role of pretreatment in biological and chemical conversion of biomassOCoaComposition and structure of biomass, and recalcitrance to conversionOCoaFundamentals of biomass pretreatment at low, neutral and high pHOCoaIonic liquid and organosolv pretreatments to fractionate biomassOCoaComparative data for application of leading pretreatments and effect of enzyme formulationsOCoaPhysical and chemical features of pretreated biomassOCoaEconomics of pretreatment for biological processingOCoaMethods of analysis and enzymatic conversion of biomass streamsOCoaExperimentala pretreatment systems from multiwell plates to pilot plant operationsa

This comprehensive reference book provides an authoritative source of information on the pretreatment of cellulosic biomass to aid those experienced in the field to access the most current information on the topic.a It will also be invaluable to those entering the growing field of biomass conversion."