Fiber fractionation to understand the effect of mechanical refining on fiber structure and resulting enzymatic digestibility of biomass.

Mechanical refining results in fiber deconstruction and modifications that enhance enzyme accessibility to carbohydrates. Further understanding of the morphological changes occurring to biomass during mechanical refining and the impacts of these changes on enzymatic digestibility is necessary to maximize yields and reduce energy consumption. Although the degree of fiber length reduction relative to fibrillation/delamination can be impacted by manipulating refining variables, mechanical refining of any type (PFI, disk, and valley beater) typically results in both phenomena.