AFEX Pretreatment:
Ammonia Fibre Expansion
|
Ammonia Fibre Expansion is a more novel approach to low cost and efficient pretreatment of cellulosic biomass.
Also known as AFEX, this pretreatment process operates at relatively mild conditions at ~100 °C and is concentrated with ammonia. At high pressures, this process depolymerizes hemicellulose and delymerizes and removes lignin from cellulose and hemicellulose. The AFEX pretreatment process minimizes degradation of the sugar in the biomass and is relatively cost effective. A high recycle ratio is also used for ammonia where 99% of the ammonia is recovered and reused, which helps reduce operating costs. |