A Novel Approach to Degrading Plant Cellulose:Continual Adding Materials and Cycling Utilization of Acids and Cellulase

A novel approach to degrading plant cellulose——Continual Adding Materials and Cycling Utilization of Acids and Cellulase(CACU) is developed on the basis of the optimum results of degrading cellulose with single acid, double or multiple acids and cellulase lyses for short time by orthogonal experiments. The schematic flow diagram for continual adding materials and cycling utilization of acids and enzymes for the production of glucose from cellulose was designed, drawn and described. The experimental results show that the CACU method is an effective way of degrading cellulose, which possesses the properties of common conditions, simple process, lower cost and a short period. The whole system consists of five or six sets of equipment, including three sets of reaction equipment and two sets of plant containers. There are totally twelve steps of operation in the whole process. The final transformation ratio of glucose to cellulose and the final concentration of glucose in the end residue can increase up to 95.34% and 3.21%, respectively, with CH₃COOH, HCl and cellulase at 100℃, 1 kg/cm², and for 15 h by the CACU method. It consumes a quarter of acetic acid and half of HCl compared with the traditional way. The CACU method can decrease the cost of production of glucose from cellulose greatly. Thus, the CACU method is worthy to be developed and spread because of its excellent properties.