Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass for Biofuel Production

The book describes the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for biomass-to-biofuel conversion processes, which is an important step in increasing ethanol production for biofuels. It also highlights the main challenges and suggests possible ways to make these technologies feasible for the biofuel industry. The biological conversion of cellulosic biomass into bioethanol is based on the chemical and biological breakdown of biomass into aqueous sugars, for example using hydrolytic enzymes. The fermentable sugars can then be further processed into ethanol or other advanced biofuels. Pretreatment is required to break down the lignin structure and disrupt the crystalline structure of cellulose so that the acids or enzymes can easily access and hydrolyze the cellulose. Pre-treatment can be the most expensive process in converting biomass to fuel, but there is great potential for improving the efficiency and lowering costs through further research and development. This book is aimed at academics and industrial practitioners who are interested in the higher production of ethanol for biofuels.

Dr. Pratima Bajpai has a Ph.D from the National Sugar Institute (NSI), Kanpur, India. She is currently a technical consultant in the pulp and paper industry and has over 30 years’ experience in research at the National Sugar Institute Kanpur, the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Western Ontario in Canada, and the Thapar Center for Industrial Research and Development in India. She has also worked as a visiting professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada, and visiting scientist at Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.

Dr. Bajpai’s main areas of expertise are industrial biotechnology, pulp and paper, and environmental biotechnology. She is a recognized expert in industrial biotechnology and has contributed immensely to the field. She is currently actively engaged in commercializing biotechnological processes for the pulp and paper industry.

Her research accomplishments have resulted in over 150 publications in respected international journals and conference proceedings. She has also written several advanced technical books on environmental and biotechnological aspects of pulp and paper, which have been published by leading publishers – PIRA International, UK; Springer, Germany; Miller Freeman USA, John Wiley, and Elsevier Science. She has also contributed chapters to a number of books and encyclopedias, obtained 11 patents, and has written several technical reports. In addition, she has implemented several processes in Indian paper mills. Dr. Bajpai is an active member of the American Society of Microbiologists and is a reviewer for many international research journals.