Fractionation of barley straw with dilute sulfuric acid for improving hemicellulose recovery

Dilute acid fractionation of barley straw improves dissolving hemicellulose fraction of the straw, while leaving the cellulose more reactive and accessible to enzyme as a strategy of pretreatment. To characterize the fractionation process, the effects of the acid concentration, temperature and reaction time on the hemicellulose removal as well as on the formation of by-products (furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and acetic acid) were investigated. The optimum fractionation conditions of barley straw were 1% (w/v) concentration of sulfuric acid, 158 °C of reaction temperature and 15 min of reaction time. Under the optimum conditions, 87% of xylan was hydrolyzed and recovered in liquid hydrolyzate, which was 7% higher than that of the predicted yield. The hydrolyzate contained glucose 2.44 g/L, arabinose 1.70 g/L, xylose 13.41 g/L, acetic acid 1.55 g/L, levulinic acid 0.03 g/L, 5-HMF 0.03 g/L and furfural 0.75 g/L.