Abstract: Disclosed are methods for the pre-treatment of lignocellulose by adding an alkali or acid reagent(s) during the densification thereof, and for the biotransformation thereof. In the method, an alkali reagent(s) or acid reagent(s) is added to a lignocellulosic raw material for a densification pre-treatment to form an alkali- or acid-containing densified lignocellulose with a compressed compact shape, thereby achieving the pre-treatment. The acid or alkali in the pre-treated lignocellulose can further pre-treat the lignocellulosic raw material in a mild manner during the subsequent transportation and storage processes. If a subsequent pre-treatment is needed, then the severity thereof is reduced substantially; in addition, the uniform mixing of the acid or alkali with the lignocellulose and a large density of the raw material promote a high efficiency and a high loading capacity of the subsequent pre-treatment of the densified lignocellulose. The method is simple and efficient.

Abstract: A biomass pretreatment method is provided to improve the bio-digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass. This pretreatment method densifies biomass with alkaline or acidic chemical(s) to obtain densified biomass containing chemicals. Pretreatment effects are realized during densification. The chemicals in densified biomass further react with biomass during biomass storage and transportation to improve the pretreatment effects. Further treatment (e.g. stream) can also be applied to the densified biomass to achieve better effects. As chemicals are mixed well with biomass during densification and the biomass density is greatly increased, further treatment is of high efficiency and high solid loading. This pretreatment method is simple and the densified biomass with chemicals is resistant to microbial contamination/degradation and thus facilitates storage and transportation.