Production of Ethanol and Biomass from Thin Stillage Using Food-Grade Zygomycetes and Ascomycetes Filamentous Fungi

Jorge A. Ferreira, Patrik R. Lennartsson and Mohammad J. Taherzadeh
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Jorge A. Ferreira: Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, Borås SE-50190, Sweden
Patrik R. Lennartsson: Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, Borås SE-50190, Sweden
Mohammad J. Taherzadeh: Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, Borås SE-50190, Sweden

Energies, 2014, vol. 7, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: A starch-based ethanol facility producing 200,000 m 3 ethanol/year also produces ca. 2 million m 3 thin stillage, which can be used to improve the entire process. In this work, five food-grade filamentous fungi, including a Zygomycete and four Ascomycetes were successfully grown in thin stillage containing 9% solids. Cultivation with Neurospora intermedia led to the production of ca. 16 g·L ?1 biomass containing 56% (w/w) crude protein, a reduction of 34% of the total solids, and 5 g·L ?1 additional ethanol. In an industrial ethanol production process (200,000 m 3 ethanol/year), this can potentially lead to the production of 11,000 m 3 extra ethanol per year. Cultivation with Aspergillus oryzae resulted in 19 g·L ?1 biomass containing 48% (w/w) crude protein and the highest reduction of the thin stillage glycerol (54%) among the Ascomycetes . Cultivation with Rhizopus sp . produced up to 15 g·L ?1 biomass containing 55% (w/w) crude protein. The spent thin stillage had been reduced up to 85%, 68% and 21% regarding lactic acid, glycerol and total solids, respectively. Therefore, N. intermedia , in particular, has a high potential to improve the ethanol process via production of additional ethanol and high-quality biomass, which can be considered for animal feed applications such as for fish feed.

Keywords: Ascomycetes; biomass; ethanol; protein; thin stillage; Zygomycetes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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