Conversion of corn milling low-value co-products to ethanol
- Dept. of Agriculture, Peoria, IL (United States)
- Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
Most of the fuel ethanol produced in the United States is derived from corn starch. The ethanol yield can be significantly increased if the hemicellulose fraction of the corn kernel is also fermented. The hemicellulose and cellulose fractions are presently marketed as cattle feed. Conversion of the hemicellulose fraction to ethanol is problematic because, in addition to glucose from the residual starch, hydrolysis of the hemicellulose gives a mixture of pentoses (arabinose and xylose) and traditional industrial yeast do not ferment pentoses. We have evaluated non-traditional recombinant microorganisms for conversion of the hemicellulose fractions into ethanol. The hemicellulose were hydrolyzed with weak acid solutions and resulting sugar mixtures fermented using recombinant Escherichia coli strains K011 and SL40. Results of the fermentation are discussed in terms of volumetric ethanol production rates, ethanol yields, and effect of inhibitors produced during hydrolysis. 4 refs., 7 figs.
- OSTI ID:
- 416366
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960730--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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