Tuesday, April 20, 2010
LL Conference Facility (Hilton Clearwater Beach)
An automated approach was developed for determining important kinetic parameters in bioethanol production that incorporates analyses of 200 samples simultaneously with the Bioscreen C (MTX lab Systems Inc.). For validation of this process the yeast Saccharomyces cereviciae D5A was tested for growth under various carbon source, ethanol and inoculum concentrations to determine how carbon source concentration, inoculum density and ethanol concentrations affect kinetics of ethanol production. Results were confirmed by conventional serum vial assays with analyses of cell density, ethanol and glucose concentrations over time. This technique will be useful for evaluating the efficiency of specific ethanol producing cultures and in quality control for determining the ethanol potential of specific biomass crops and pretreatment strategies.