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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center » Cell Wall Biology and Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #254745
Title: On-farm Preservation and Pretreatment of Perennial Grasses for Fuel Ethanol Production

Author
item DIGMAN, MATTHEW - University Of Wisconsin
item SHINNERS, KEVIN - University Of Wisconsin
item Casler, Michael
item Dien, Bruce
item Hatfield, Ronald
item Jung, Hans Joachim
item Muck, Richard
item Weimer, Paul

Submitted to: American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/21/2010
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Recently, wet storage methods have been proposed for feedstock preservation and on-farm storage of perennial grass and corn stover biomass. The advantages over a dry storage system include lower risk of fire, reduced harvest costs, and improved feedstock susceptibility to enzymatic hydrolysis. We believe that wet storage systems may also present a unique opportunity to add value to the feedstock through chemical or biological pretreatment. In-storage pretreatments at ambient temperature and pressure but prolonged reaction times may lower pretreatment costs and provide better return for farmers. Our research investigates the ability of on-farm pretreatments with dilute acid, alkali, ozone or novel enzymes to improve enzymatic degradability of cellulose and hemicelluloses in biomass at the biorefinery.