Monday, April 19, 2010
LL Conference Facility (Hilton Clearwater Beach)
One of the main targets in bioethanol production to achieve sustainability is the increase in the productivity per area of sugarcane cultivated. This is possible through the use of the cellulosic portion of sugarcane as a substrate source in the fermentation.
Among the drawbacks in the second generation biofuel technology is the presence of inhibitory products in the hydrolysates (acetic acid, furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural (HFM)), which inhibit the kinetics and productivity of alcoholic fermentation.
In this work, the fermentability of a mixture of sugarcane molasses and the hydrolysates obtained after enzymatic hydrolysis of bagasse pretreated using two distinct processes (pretreatment with lime and hydrogen peroxide) at different proportions (from 5% to 45% vol. of hydrolysate added in the fermentation broth) was investigated in a continuous process. The microorganism used was a lineage of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The hydrolysate was cold sterilized by a membrane of 0.45 µm in order to maintain the original concentrations of furfural and HMF in the media to evaluate their inhibitor impacts on the yeasts.
The kinetics of bioethanol formation, yield and productivity was evaluated for continuous mode of production at five different temperatures, from 30 to 38°C.
Among the drawbacks in the second generation biofuel technology is the presence of inhibitory products in the hydrolysates (acetic acid, furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural (HFM)), which inhibit the kinetics and productivity of alcoholic fermentation.
In this work, the fermentability of a mixture of sugarcane molasses and the hydrolysates obtained after enzymatic hydrolysis of bagasse pretreated using two distinct processes (pretreatment with lime and hydrogen peroxide) at different proportions (from 5% to 45% vol. of hydrolysate added in the fermentation broth) was investigated in a continuous process. The microorganism used was a lineage of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The hydrolysate was cold sterilized by a membrane of 0.45 µm in order to maintain the original concentrations of furfural and HMF in the media to evaluate their inhibitor impacts on the yeasts.
The kinetics of bioethanol formation, yield and productivity was evaluated for continuous mode of production at five different temperatures, from 30 to 38°C.