LAUSR

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of recycling the liquid fraction of pretreatment with alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) on the hydrolysis of corn stover. Corn stover was pretreated in the traditional condition with 7.5% v/v H2O2. After pretreatment, the solids were separated from the liquid fraction and five successive reuse cycles of the liquid fraction were tested. The solid fraction from pretreatment in each recycle was submitted to enzymatic hydrolysis. The number of recycles had a linear negative effect (R2=0.98) on biomass delignification efficiency and also affected negatively the enzymatic conversion efficiency. Despite the decrease in efficiency after each recycling step, reuse of the liquid fraction leads to reduction in water, H2O2 and NaOH consumption of up to 57.6%, 59.6% and 57.6%, respectively. These findings point to an efficient recycling technology, which may reduce costs and save water.