Fermentation in the ICM Generation 1.5™ integrated cellulosic ethanol process

In ICM’s Generation 1.5 integrated cellulosic ethanol process, fiber fractionated from the corn kernel is acid pretreated and enzyme hydrolyzed to produce fermentable sugars.    These are fermented to ethanol in smaller fermenter vessels, by genetically modified Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains via either a hybrid hydrolysis and fermentation (HHF) format, or via a separate hydrolysis and fermentation format (SHF).    The fermented beer is added to the full scale corn fermenters generating average yield improvements of up to 10% per bushel of processed corn.    In this presentation we report on the various segments of the fermentation development work, including data from bench, pilot scale, and finally full scale fermentation experiments, including data supporting the preferred fermentation format.  Improvements in microbiology, fermentation times, and overall process performance will be discussed, along with their impacts on implementation costs.