Toward the shell biorefinery: processing crustacean shell waste using hot water and carbonic acid
Biomass fractionation is a prerequisite for almost any biorefinery process. Yet, a cost-effective and environmentally benign approach to separate biomass feedstock into valuable fractions remain a challenge. Herein we introduce a new fractionation method to extract high-value chitin from crustacean...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English English English |
Published: |
American Chemical Society
2019
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/72519/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/72519/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/72519/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/72519/1/72519_Toward%20the%20Shell%20Biorefinery.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/72519/2/72519_Toward%20the%20Shell%20Biorefinery_SCOPUS.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/72519/3/72519_Toward%20the%20Shell%20Biorefinery_WOS.pdf |
Summary: | Biomass fractionation is a prerequisite for almost any biorefinery process. Yet, a cost-effective and environmentally benign approach to separate biomass feedstock into valuable fractions remain a challenge. Herein we introduce a new fractionation method to extract high-value chitin from crustacean shell (e.g., shrimp shell) using hot water for deproteinization and carbonic acid for demineralization (termed as the HOW-CA process). This method features high deproteinization and demineralization efficiencies (>90%), and the whole process is accomplished within hours. The desired final product chitin exhibits a high purity. This work addresses the major problems associated with the current industrial practice including the employment of corrosive reagents, the destructive removal of a useful component, and the generation of a large amount of waste. Economic and life cycle analyses imply that the HOW-CA process is superior to the conventional method, offering both economic and environmental benefits |
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