The pretreatment
of straw directly influences the following conversion
efficiency. Hence, comprehensively understanding the changes in the
pretreatment process is of
great significance. This study used microcomputed tomography as a
characterization technique to study the changes in the microstructure
of dilute-acid-pretreated corn stalks. The optimal accelerating voltage
for scanning and the optimal parameters for image reconstruction were
determined. Rapid and noninvasive three-dimensional visual characterization
of the corn stalk internal structure could be performed using microcomputed
tomography, which has several advantages over conventional methods.
After processing the obtained images, the microstructural changes
of the stalk, including those in the thickness distribution, porosity,
separation distribution, and pore connectivity as well as the X-ray
mean attenuation coefficient were calculated and compared with those
reported in the literature. Hence, microcomputed tomography is a feasible
and nondestructive characterization method for better understanding
of the effects of acid pretreatments on corn stalks and for optimizing
pretreatment parameters.
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