Characterization of the hydrolysis of corn stover catalyzed by inorganic Fe salt for biogas production

Two inorganic salts, FeCl₃ and Fe(NO₃)₃, were chosen as catalysts to determine their effects on the hydrolysis of corn stover, and the results indicated that Fe(NO₃)₃ was one of the most efficient catalyst for the hydrolysis of hemicelluloses. The kinetics of the hydrolysis reaction of corn stover catalyzed by Fe(NO₃)₃ were investigated at different temperatures. The results showed that two-fraction model fitted very well the hydrolysis reaction of hemicelluloses catalyzed by Fe(NO₃)₃, and the kinetic parameters for this model were obtained by nonlinear regression using the Newton´s method. The activation energies for the hydrolysis of hemicelluloses in corn stover was 91.79 kJ/mol calculated by the classic Arrhenius equation. Optimum pretreatment conditions were 0.05 mol/L Fe(NO₃)₃ at 150 °C for 16.5 min, which obtained the maximum xylose yields 91.3% of initial xylan.