Nippon develops efficient method to remove lignin

Japan’s Nippon Oil Corp. has developed a pretreatment process for the production of cellulosic ethanol that uses a specialty gas to efficiently remove lignin at low temperatures. The process, the company said, also has the merit of lighter environmental impact compared with methods that are currently in use, such as thermal treatment and use of sulfuric acid. Lignin, which is present in biomass material, needs to be removed before ethanol is produced. The company’s process involves shredding the material into small pieces, 0.2 to 2 millimeters in size, mixing them together in a reactor, applying heat and injecting a specialty gas. Experiments conducted under optimal conditions showed that the pretreatment results in six to seven times more sugar production than without pretreatment. (March 12, 2009)