Improving and characterising solid-state fungal pretreatment by Phanerochaete chrysosporium for sugar production from poplar wood

Promovendus/a: Nikolett Wittner

Promotor(en): Prof. dr. Iris Cornet, Prof. dr. Siegfried Vlaeminck

Did you know that it is possible to produce biochemicals and biofuels such as bioethanol from wood without using harmful chemicals, large amounts of energy and water? Solid-state fungal pretreatment is one such environmentally friendly technique. It makes the carbohydrates in recalcitrant wood more available by using fungi to remove the unwanted lignin compound. However, these fungi also consume some of the desired carbohydrate components. In this thesis, the influence of additives such as metal ions, different inoculation techniques and fermentation strategies on the fungal fermentation process was investigated. The knowledge gained has made it possible to improve the selectivity and efficiency of this technique. The large amount of experimental data obtained from this study was used to develop near-infrared and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy-based lignin determination methods as rapid process monitoring tools. They are valuable alternatives to the conventional laborious wet chemistry-based methods. Finally, the feasibility of producing fermentable sugars from poplar wood using fungal fermentation was evaluated in a techno-economic analysis. The results obtained increase the understanding of solid fungal pretreatment and may facilitate the transition to a wood-based bioeconomy.