ENZYMATIC-HYDROLYSIS OF WOOD - AN ENGINEERING ASSESSMENT

Eucalyptus wood samples were delignified with HCl-catalysed acetic aci d solutions under selected experimental conditions and treated with Na ClO solutions. The solid residues obtained were employed as substrates for enzymatic hydrolysis. The NaClO concentration used in the pretrea tment step, the liquor/solid ratio and the enzyme/substrate ratio were considered as operational variables. The experimental data allowed th e development of generalized kinetic models which provided the necessa ry information for design calculations. The operational conditions wer e compared from an engineering viewpoint on the basis of economic esti mates. Optimum conditions were established from these estimates.