High pressure systems as sustainable extraction and pre-treatment technologies for a holistic corn stover biorefinery

Abstract

This mini-review assesses supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) extraction and high-pressure carbon dioxide pre-treatment technologies for valorisation of corn stover agricultural residues with particular focus on showing how these can aid in the creation of a holistic biorefineries. Corn stover is currently the largest source of agriculture residues in the USA, as such there is significant potential for exploitation to yield valuable chemicals. ScCO2 extraction could lead to the recovery of a variety of different chemicals which include flavonoids, sterols, steroid ketones, hydrocarbons, saturated fatty acids, unsaturated fatty acids, fatty alcohols, phenolics and triterpenoids. Importantly, recent studies have not only demonstrated that supercritical extraction can be utilized for the recovery of plant lipids for use in consumer products, including nutraceuticals and personal care, but the processing of treated biomass can lead to enhanced yields and recovery of other products from biorefinery processes. Despite the great potential and opportunities for using scCO2 and high-pressure systems in a biorefinery context their real-world application faces significant challenges to overcome before it is widely applied. Such challenges have also been discussed in the context of this mini-review.

Production of Microbial Lipids by Saitozyma podzolica Zwy2-3 Using Corn Straw Hydrolysate, the Analysis of Lipid Composition, and the Prediction of Biodiesel Properties

“…However, due to cost considerations, researchers are now focusing on utilizing affordable and easily accessible substrates. According to Wang et al, the annual global production of CS is estimated to be 1661.25 million tons [47], which represents approximately 27.2% of the total agricultural waste generated worldwide [48]. Hence, the use of CS not only significantly decreases manufacturing costs but also helps to reduce environmental pollution caused by incineration.…”

Sustainable solvents for β-diketone extraction from wheat straw wax and their molecular self-assembly into nano-structured tubules for hydrophobic coatings

“…19 Over the past few years, green solvent extractions such as subcritical and supercritical uids have been thoroughly researched and rened to give a better understanding of the wax yields and selectivity associated with these techniques. [20][21][22][23][24][25] Sin et al reported that hentriacontane-14,16-dione was extracted from wheat straw wax by supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2 ) in a yield of 34.5% of the wax. 26 Importantly, scCO 2 processes have demonstrated effectiveness at the extraction of waxes, however, to date scCO 2 fractionations are yet to demonstrate selectivity in the isolation of b-diketones.…”