InterPore2026

Multi-scale modelling of enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass using numerical homogenization.

21 May 2026, 15:05

15m

Oral Presentation (MS02) Environmental Porous Media: Water, Agriculture, and Remediation MS02

Speaker

Emma Berson (Toulouse INP)

Description

Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant source of low-carbon energy that remains largely untapped, with 181 billion tonnes of waste per year [1] mainly coming from cereal agriculture. The architecture of this type of biomass is highly complex and varies with species: it can be defined as a continuum of spatial scales, from the scale of polymeric molecules making up plant cell walls to the scale of plant tissues and organs (stem, leaves, etc.). These scales are highly interconnected and reflect not only the chemical and structural properties of biomass, but above all its reactivity to transformation processes such as chemical, physical, mechanical or biological reactions. To optimise the recovery of agricultural waste, a detailed characterisation of its properties is essential. 
In this context, the aim of this project is to develop a homogenized model of enzymatic hydrolysis, one of the most widespread processes for converting lignocellulosic biomass in applications such as production of biofuels or bio-based chemicals. Existing models of enzymatic hydrolysis, including [2], do not consider the dual porosity structure of biomass, as illustrated in Figure 1. 
In the present work, theoretical and numerical tools [3] are used to address this problem of diffusive and reactive transport in such a spatially heterogeneous porous medium. A numerical homogenization technique is developed to work on the scale of a fragment representative of maize stem, while considering physical phenomena at lower scales. It is implemented on 2D image sets, currently for pure diffusive enzyme transport including heterogeneous cell wall properties (Figure 2), before including the reactive component of the problem.