ETHANOL PRODUCTION FROM SUGARCANE BAGASSE USING SSF PROCESS AND THERMOTOLERANT YEAST

Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) pretreated by hydrothermolysis at 195°C for 10 min was used as a substrate for ethanol production in a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process with the thermotolerant yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus IMB3 at 45°C. SSF was carried out for 7 days using 15 and 30 filter paper units (FPU) cellulase g-1 treated SCB (Accellerase 1500) to determine the effect of enzyme loading on ethanol production. Different pretreated dry solids loadings of 10% and 15% (w/w) were investigated in this work during enzymatic hydrolysis. Results showed 89.7% hemicellulose removal during pretreatment and glucan recovery of 97.8%. The highest ethanol concentration of 29.2 g L-1 was obtained with 30 FPU cellulase g-1 treated SCB within 72 h, which was equivalent to 58.9% of the maximum theoretical ethanol yield.