|
Poster Presentation 3-37
Fungal Bioprocessing of Wheat Straw for Straw-Thermoplastic Composites Production
David N. Thompson, Tracy P. Houghton, Jeffrey A. Lacey, Peter G. Shaw, and J. Richard Hess
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, P. O. Box 1625 Idaho Falls, ID 83415-2203
Telephone: (208) 526-3977; Fax: (208) 526-0828; Email: thomdn@inel.gov
The major barriers to straw utilization for straw-thermoplastic composites are resin penetration and resin consumption due to the physical barriers presented by the cuticle, epidermis, and the lignin-hemicellulose matrix. Resin binding and performance are of the utmost importance. Resin consumption is increased because of poor binding to the cuticle, and because fines have high surface area and require much more resin. The physical barriers to resin penetration are exactly the same barriers that limit access of cellulase enzymes to the cellulose fibers for production of fuels and chemicals.
White-rot fungi degrade the cuticle, lignin and hemicellulose; and thereby increase fermentable glucose yields without capital or energy intensive steps. Since the physical barriers are the same for composites production as for fermentable glucose production, these pretreatments could also improve resin penetration. However, long treatment times and large footprints limit their use on a large scale. Distributed fungal pretreatments could alleviate land requirements by allowing the use of smaller systems. This paper presents progress toward the development of a passive fungal straw upgrading system utilizing white rot fungi. The goal is to develop a distributed system that can minimize the need for large amounts of land for the treatment.
|