Bioethanol production from Wheat straw by popping pretreatment

Wheat straw is used as a raw material as it is the most widely grown in India. Conversion of wheat and rice straw biomass to fuel ethanol involves pretreatments followed by enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis to generate fermentable sugars. Efficient pretreatment method can significantly enhance hydrolysis of biomass and thus reduce ethanol production cost. The objective of this study was to study the effect of popping pretreatment. Dilute sulfuric acid, alkali and popping methods are used for pretreatment in combination with enzymatic hydrolysis. These results indicate that popping pretreatment of wheat give the good results than as compared to other pretreatments alkali and acid.