Densification of a Fermented Biomass Rich in Cellulolytic and Hemicellulolytic Enzymes

Abstract.

Beta-glucanase, a marker for the activity of cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic enzymes, consists of a category of digestive enzymes with a high importance for industrial and animal nutrition applications to release glucose from the beta-linked glucose polymers in the lignocellulosic biomass. This study was conducted to explore the significance of process parameters in densification processes, namely pelletization and dome extrusion-spheronization (granulation), for a beta-glucanase-rich biomass. Among the several parameters in pelletization, initial biomass temperature (-18ºC to 45ºC), source of heating (dry and steam heating), and the level of steam conditioning were employed to study how the qualitative parameters of the product including enzyme activity, durability, density and crumbling potential, and also power input during processing could be controlled. In granulation, biomass moisture content, extrusion direction, and material residence time in the spheronizer were employed as the factors to study the quality of the product with emphasis on enzyme activity, density, and particle size distribution. According to the results, granulation based on extrusion-spheronization compared to pelletization would be the preferred method for a small-sized densified product in terms of uniformity and size distribution.