Resumen de The fractionation of almond shells by thermo-mechanical aqueous-phase (tm-av) pretreatment
Joan Salvadó Rovira, Xavier Farriol Roigés, Daniel Montané Calaf, E. Chornet
The fractionation of almond (Prunes amygdalus) shells using an aqueous phase thermo-mechanical pretreatment is the main goal in the present work. Almond shells are an abundant agricultural waste in the Mediterranean regions with an estimated world production of 550,000 Tm yr−1. The solubilization profile, the pretreated fiber composition and the yield of the xylan recovered in the aqueous phase have been studied as a function of the pretreatment severity. Two different models have been used to describe the xylan solubilization kinetics: a pseudo-kinetic model and a model based on the generalized severity factor. The results of xylan solubilization and recovery are in concordance with those reported for hardwood. It has also been found that under certain operational conditions and reactor configurations, the reaction rate may not be under kinetic control due to poor stirring of the lignocellulosic-aqueous slurry.
