Effects of Treatments on Cellulosic Biomass Structure in Ethanol Manufacturing: A Literature Review

Ethanol made from cellulosic biomass is an alternative to petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels. Enzymatic hydrolysis uses enzymes to convert cellulosic biomass into sugars that are fermented into ethanol. In order to increase sugar yield, various treatments (such as biomass size reduction and pretreatment) are applied to cellulosic biomass before enzymatic hydrolysis. These treatments will alter structure parameters of cellulosic biomass, such as crystallinity index, degree of polymerization, particle size, pore volume, and specific surface area. There are currently no review papers on these structure parameters of cellulosic biomass in ethanol manufacturing. This paper reviews experimental investigations in the literature about effects of various treatments on the structure parameters of cellulosic biomass.