Sunday, May 4, 2008
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The Severity Factor Influence over the Diluted Acid Hydrolysis of Sugar Cane Bagasse and the Fermentability of Hemicellulosic Hydrolysates for Ethanol Production

Gabriel Vargas Betancur, Andre Mano Silva, Patrycia Garcia de Melo, and Nei Pereira Jr.. Biochemical Engineering Department, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, P. O. Box: 68542 – Zip code: 21.949-900, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Currently, the exploitation of agro-industrial wastes as feedstocks for the production of fuels and chemicals has a tremendous interest, mainly because their generation does not compete with the use of land for food production, being also within the perspective of Sustainable Development. The sugarcane bagasse is one of the most important agro-industrial residues in Brazil and represents an important source of sugars, such as xylose obtained from the hemicellulose fraction. Sugar cane bagasse is composed of 38.1 wt% cellulose, 28.4 wt% hemicellulose, 18.4 wt% lignin and 15.1 wt% proteins and ashes. The aim of this work was to develop a relationship between the severity factor imposed during the diluted acid pretreatment of sugar cane bagasse and the fermentability of the generated hydrolysates. A full factorial design of 3 factors (acid concentration, solid:liquid ratio and time) at 2 levels was developed for the hydrolysis process and all the hydrolysates were further fermented by an adapted flocculating strain of Pichia stipitis. Different ethanol productivities and yields were obtained, and a relationship between the fermentation variables and the severity factor could be established. Additionally, results showed that in an optimized diluted acid hydrolysis conditions, it was possible to obtain a hydrolysate with 95 g/L of sugars, which was further fermented resulting in 29 g/L of ethanol.

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