ABSTRACT
Hydrolysis is common to many biodegradations and has been studied in some detail for lignocellulose conversion to sugars by cellulase in a number of systems. To some extent it is a useful model for the study of lignite biogasification. Often, the solubilization of the solid substrate is the rate-limiting step. A thermal chemical pretreatment of lignocellulose can remove the easily hydrolyzable hemicellulose, which constitutes about 25% of the dry weight of wood and greatly increases the porosity of the solid residue. The pretreatment is achieved in a continuous plug flow reactor. The same reactor can be used to pretreat cellulose containing lignocellulosic materials for subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. In the case of lignite, with so few oxygen bonds to hydrolyze, it was felt that the best pretreatment would be the one that produces the most soluble, bioconvertible organic matter.
