The study investigated the production of bioethanol from softwood, in particular pine wood chip. The steam explosion pretreatment was largely investigated, evaluating also the potential use of a double step process to increase ethanol production through the use of both solid and liquid fraction after the pretreatment. The pretreatment tests were carried out at different conditions, determining the composition of solid and liquid fraction and steam explosion efficiency. The enzymatic hydrolysis was carried out with Ctec2 enzyme while the fermentation was carried out using Saccharomyces Cerevisiae yeast “red ethanol”. It was found that the best experimental result was obtained for a single step pretreated sample (10.6 g of ethanol/100 g of initial biomass dry basis) for a 4.53 severity. The best double step overall performance was equal to 8.89 g ethanol/100 g of initial biomass dry basis for a 4.27 severity. The enzymatic hydrolysis strongly depended on the severity of the pretreatment while the fermentation efficiency was mainly influenced by the concentration of the inhibitors. The ethanol enhancing potential of a double step steam explosion could slightly increase the ethanol production compared to single step potential.
Effect of double-step steam explosion pretreatment in bioethanol production from softwood
COTANA, Franco;CAVALAGLIO, GIANLUCA
;GELOSIA, MATTIA;COCCIA, VALENTINA;PETROZZI, ALESSANDRO;NICOLINI, ANDREA
2014
Abstract
The study investigated the production of bioethanol from softwood, in particular pine wood chip. The steam explosion pretreatment was largely investigated, evaluating also the potential use of a double step process to increase ethanol production through the use of both solid and liquid fraction after the pretreatment. The pretreatment tests were carried out at different conditions, determining the composition of solid and liquid fraction and steam explosion efficiency. The enzymatic hydrolysis was carried out with Ctec2 enzyme while the fermentation was carried out using Saccharomyces Cerevisiae yeast “red ethanol”. It was found that the best experimental result was obtained for a single step pretreated sample (10.6 g of ethanol/100 g of initial biomass dry basis) for a 4.53 severity. The best double step overall performance was equal to 8.89 g ethanol/100 g of initial biomass dry basis for a 4.27 severity. The enzymatic hydrolysis strongly depended on the severity of the pretreatment while the fermentation efficiency was mainly influenced by the concentration of the inhibitors. The ethanol enhancing potential of a double step steam explosion could slightly increase the ethanol production compared to single step potential.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
