A range of lignocellulosic feedstocks (including agricultural, softwood and hardwood substrates) were pretreated with either sulfur dioxide-catalyzed steam or an ethanol organosolv procedure to try to establish a reliable assessment of the factors governing the minimum protein loading that could be used to achieve efficient hydrolysis. A statistical design approach was first used to define what...

A centrifugal method has been modified and applied to the assessment of water retention value (WRV) in cellulosic materials. Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), small particles/fibrils isolated from MCC using highpressure homogenizer, and pulp fibers saturated in water were centrifuged at different speeds and times with filter paper and/or a membrane acting as the filter in the WRV measurement se...

Cellulose is one of the most abundant non-degradable organic compound on earth. Near about half of the municipal and agricultural solid wastes contain cellulose or their derivatives. Saccharification or enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic wastes liberates glucose. In the present work, cellulase from Cellulomonas uda was extracted, partially purified by dialysis and immobilized on an organic supp...

The physical and chemical properties of composite starch-based films containing cellulosic fiber, chitosan, and gelatin were investigated. Films containing both cellulosic fibers and chitosan demonstrated tremendous enhancements in film strength and gas permeation. The water absorbency of composite films could be greatly reduced in film composites containing cellulosic fibers and gelatin, but t...

A novel silica coated paper substrate is developed through a facile vacuum filtration method by using the commercially available silica particles as the coating material and corn starch as the adhesive agent. Unlike the commercial silica coated paper (namely grade SG81 paper), the resulting paper substrate was covered by a layer of silica particles on the top side of the paper, and no cellulosi...

Cellulose is a major constituent of renewable lignocellulosic waste available in large quantities and is considered the most important reservoir of carbon for the production of glucose, for alternative fuel and as a chemical feedstock. Over the past decade, the emphasis has been on the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose and the efficiency of which depends on source of cellulosic subst...

Agaricus arvensis, a newly isolated basidiomycetous fungus, was found to secrete efficient cellulases. The strain produced the highest endoglucanase (EG), cellobiohydrolase (CBH) and beta-glucosidase (BGL) activities of 0.3, 3.2 and 8U/mg-protein, respectively, with rice straw as the carbon source. Saccharification of the woody biomass with A. arvensis cellulase as the enzyme source released a ...

This study dynamically monitors ecosystem performance (EP) to identify grasslands potentially suitable for cellulosic feedstock crops (e.g., switchgrass) within the Greater Platte River Basin (GPRB). We computed grassland site potential and EP anomalies using 9-year (2000–2008) time series of 250 m expedited moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer Normalized Difference Vegetation Index da...

We develop an integrated framework to determine and compare greenhouse gas (GHG) intensities and production costs of cellulosic ethanol derived from corn stover, switchgrass, and miscanthus grown on high and low quality soils for three representative counties in the Eastern United States. This information is critical for assessing the cost-effectiveness of utilizing cellulosic ethanol for mitig...