Pretreatment Technologies

Pretreatment, whether physical (mechanical), chemical, thermochemical, or biochemical, is usually required before energy crops or organic wastes may be turned to biofuels. Pretreatment increases the energy density of biomass, allowing it to be transported more efficiently from the point of production. Pretreatment produces a variety of chemical compounds that are harmful to microorganisms. These pretreatment procedures yield a variety of secondary metabolites and compounds that are inhibitory to enzymes also. Washing, drying, sieving, leaching, or thermal pretreatment of biomass can greatly improve the characteristics of lower grade biomass and so provide an appealing technique for allowing the use of such residues, thus expanding the resource base. Pretreatment technologies can be deployed at a variety of locations along the supply chain, affecting the downstream supply chain in a variety of ways, such as cost or fuel quality. Some pretreatment processes may provide a number of advantages.