Refining bioethanol from stalk juice of sweet sorghum by immobilized yeast fermentation

Ronghou Liu, Jinxia Li and Fei Shen

Renewable Energy, 2008, vol. 33, issue 5, 1130-1135

Abstract: The relationship between total soluble sugar content and Brix in stalk juice of sweet sorghum was determined through one-dimensional linear regression. Meanwhile, bioethanol fermentation experiments were conducted in shaking flasks and 10l fluidized bed bioreactor with stalk juice of Yuantian No. 1 sweet sorghum cultivar when immobilized yeast was applied. The experimental results in the shaking flasks showed that the order of influence on improving ethanol yield was (NH4)2SO4>MgSO4>K2HPO4, and the optimum inorganic salts supplement dose was determined as follows: K2HPO4 0%, (NH4)2SO4 0.2%, MgSO4 0.05%. When the optimum inorganic salts supplement dose was used in fermentation in 10l fluidized bed reactor, the fermentation time and ethanol content were 5h and 6.2% (v/v), respectively, and ethanol yield was 91.61%, which was increased by 9.73% than blank. In addition, the results showed that the fermentation time was about 6–8 times shorter in fluidized bed bioreactor with immobilized yeast than that of conventional fermentation technology. As a result, it can be concluded that the determined optimum inorganic salts supplement dose could be used as a guide for commercial ethanol production. The fluidized bed bioreactor with immobilized yeast technology has a great potential for ethanol fermentation of stalk juice of sweet sorghum.

Keywords: Sweet sorghum; Inorganic salts; Bioethanol fermentation; Immobilized yeast (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:33:y:2008:i:5:p:1130-1135

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2007.05.046

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