Low-Moisture Anhydrous Ammonia (LMAA) Pretreatment of Corn Stover
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Since 1905, the Department of Agricultural Engineering, now the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE), has been a leader in providing engineering solutions to agricultural problems in the United States and the world. The department’s original mission was to mechanize agriculture. That mission has evolved to encompass a global view of the entire food production system–the wise management of natural resources in the production, processing, storage, handling, and use of food fiber and other biological products.
History
In 1905 Agricultural Engineering was recognized as a subdivision of the Department of Agronomy, and in 1907 it was recognized as a unique department. It was renamed the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering in 1990. The department merged with the Department of Industrial Education and Technology in 2004.
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1905–present
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- Department of Agricultural Engineering (1907–1990)
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- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (parent college)
- College of Engineering (parent college)
- Department of Industrial Education and Technology, (merged, 2004)
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Abstract
Ethanol has been widely used as an alternative to fossil fuels. In recent years, much attention has been devoted to ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. In previous research, low-moisture anhydrous ammonia (LMAA) pretreatment was investigated due to its high efficiency and less washing compared to other pretreatment methods. The purpose of this study was to determine optimal conditions resulting in highest glucose yield and lowest ammonia input using the LMAA processing. In this experiment corn stover was used with different moisture contents (20, 50, 80 wb %) and particle sizes (<0.09, 0.09-2, >2 mm). Corn stover was ammoniated with a loading rate of 0.1g NH3 /g biomass. Ammoniated corn stover then was subjected to different pretreatment times (24, 72,144 h). After that, compositional analysis, including ash content, moisture content, structural carbohydrates and lignin in biomass, and enzymatic digestibility were used to determine the glucose yield. This study focused on designing a pretreatment method which could improve the efficiency of pretreatment processing.