Authors:

Zhujin Xia

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About Paper:

Increasing the value of agricultural products has become a pressing problem nowadays, and much focus has been shifted to the agricultural residues. Corn stover as a biomass is rich in lignocellulose and has the potential to be used as a feedstock for production of biofuels and biochemicals. In this research, liquefaction of the corn stover was applied to generate a special slurry for liquid phase fermentation to oxalic acid, which is widely employed in the metal industry. Oxalic acid is currently produced from petroleum. This work demonstrates manufacture of this di-acid from a renewable resource, i.e. cellulose in corn stover, by using an enzyme to create a low viscosity slurry. The liquefied slurry was then fermented with a strain of Aspergillus niger able to produce oxalic acid. Quantification of oxalic acid from the fermentation broth was done using liquid chromatography (HPLC). The research demonstrates the proof of concept that a corn stover slurry, inoculated with A. niger fungi, is able to generate 14 g/L oxalic acid after 12 days, and that liquified corn stover is a great substrate for organic acid production thereby giving a practical example of adding value to lignocellulosic, agricultural residue.

Source:

Purdue University / 2023

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Co-authors:

Zhujin Xia