skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of cellulose to ethanol

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:6273861

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of cullulose (untreated BW-200 Solka Floc) to ethanol utilizing the cellulase enzyme complex of Trichoderma reesei Rut C-30 and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae QM 8226, has resulted in increased rates and longer times of hydrolysis when compared to simple saccharifications. Additionally, two schemes for ethanol removal during hydrolysis, nitrogen sparging and vacuum operation, have also shown increased rates and longer times of saccharification of cellulose when compared to the simple SSF. Both early and delayed yeast additions, different lengths of SSF operations, and different sparging techniques were investigated. The beta-glucosidase fraction of the T. ressei Rut C-30 cellulase enzyme system was able to convert cellobiose to glucose in the presence of ethyl alcohol eliminating the strong inhibition of celloboise on cellulase while the yeast converted glucose to ethanol by glucolysis eliminating the inhibition of glucose on beta-glucosidase. The hydrolysis curves did not fit either simple or competitive product inhibition Michaelis-Menten type kinetic analysis. An enzyme deactivation-inhibition model seems necessary to fit the data. The yield parameter for ethanol/substrate (Yp/s) varied from .42g/g to .47g/g (theoretical .51g/g) with the majority of glucose being converted to ethanol in less than 15 hours.

OSTI ID:
6273861
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English