Novel application of membrane bioreactors in lignocellulosic ethanol production : simultaneous saccharification, filtration and fermentation (SSFF)

Biofuels production and utilisation can reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, dependence on fossil fuels and also improve energy security. Ethanol is the most important biofuel in the transportation sector; however, its production from lignocelluloses faces some challenges. Conventionally, lignocellulosic hydrolysis and fermentation has mostly been performed by separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) or simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). SHF results in product inhibition during enzymatic hydrolysis and increased contamination risk. During SSF, suboptimal conditions are used and the fermenting organism cannot be reused. Bacterial contamination is another major concern in ethanol production, which usually results in low ethanol yield. In these studies, the above-mentioned challenges have been addressed. A novel method for lignocellulosic ethanol production ‘Simultaneous saccharification filtration and fermentation (SSFF)’ was developed. It circumvents the disadvantages of SSF and SHF; specifically, it uses a membrane for filtration and allows both the hydrolysis and fermentation to be carried out at different optimum conditions. SSFF also offers the possibility of cell reuse for several cultivations. The method was initially applied to pretreated spruce, with a flocculating strain of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. SSFF was further developed and applied to pretreated wheat straw, a xylose rich lignocellulosic material, using encapsulated xylose fermenting strain of S. cerevisiae. High solids loading of 12% suspended solids (SS) was used to combat bacterial contamination and improve ethanol yield. Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) was pretreated with fungal and phosphoric acid in order to improve its ethanol yield. An evaluation of biofuel production in Nigeria was also carried out. SSFF resulted in ethanol yield of 85% of the theoretical yield from pretreated spruce with the flocculating strain. Combination of SSFF with encapsulated xylose fermenting strain facilitated simultaneous ...