With the inevitable depletion of the petroleum supply and increasing energy demands in the world, interest has been growing in bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass (e.g., sugarcane bagasse). Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant, inexpensive, and renewable resource. Most of current conversion technologies require expensive enzymes and sterility. In contrast, the patented MixAlco process requires no enzymes or sterility, making it attractive to convert lignocellulosic biomass to transportation fuels and valuable chemicals. This study focuses on pretreatment and thermophilic fermentation in the MixAlco process. Ammonium bicarbonate (NH4HCO3) was discovered to be a better pH buffer than previously widely used calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in anaerobic fermentations under thermophilic conditions (55°C). The desired pH should be controlled within 6.5 to 7.5. Over 85% acetate content in the product was found in paper fermentations and bagasse fermentations. Hot-lime-water-treated bagasse countercurrent fermentations buffered by ammonium bicarbonate achieved 50–60% higher total product concentrations than those using calcium carbonate. It was nearly double in paper batch fermentations if the pH was controlled around 7.0. Ammonium bicarbonate is a “weak” methane inhibitor, so a strong methane inhibitor (e.g., iodoform) is still required in ammonium bicarbonate buffered fermentations. Residual calcium salts did not show significant effects on ammonium bicarbonate buffered fermentations. Lake inocula from the Great Salt Lake, Utah, proved to be feasible in ammonium bicarbonate buffered fermentations. Under mesophilic conditions (40°C), the inoculum from the Great Salt Lake increased the total product concentration about 30%, compared to the marine inoculum. No significant fermentation performance difference, however, was found under thermophilic conditions. The Continuum Particle Distribution Model (CPDM) is a powerful tool to predict product concentrations and conversions for long-term countercurrent fermentations, based on batch fermentation data. The experimental acid concentrations and conversions agree well with the CPDM predictions (average absolute error < 15%). Aqueous ammonia treatment proved feasible for bagasse. Air-lime-treated bagasse had the highest acid concentration among the three treated bagasse. Air-lime treatment coupled with ammonium bicarbonate buffered fermentations is preferred for a “crop-tofuel” process. Aqueous ammonia treatment combined with ammonium bicarbonate buffered fermentations is a viable modification of the MixAlco process, if “ammonia recycle” is deployed.

The potential of high digestible grain sorghum (HDGS) with a modified starch protein endosperm matrix to replace corn in ethanol production was investigated using dry grind simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). Preliminary experiments showed that HDGS yielded higher amounts of glucose and ethanol than normal digestible grain sorghum (NDGS) and corn particularly in the first 48 hrs of fermentation. It was hypothesized that fast conversion of starch to glucose and ethanol during hydrolysis and fermentation are results of improved protein digestibility of HDGS. The invagination of protein structures in HDGS produced a flourier endosperm texture, softer kernels and lower starch content than the normal digestible protein (ND) lines. Highly digestible protein (HD) lines have better pasting properties (significantly lower pasting temperature, faster rate of gelatinization and higher peak viscosity) than ND lines based on the RVA profile. Increasing protein digestibility of the HDGS improved starch digestibility (increased rate of glucose conversion and total glucose yield during saccharification), which is supported by highly significant correlation of turbidity with rate of glucose conversion and efficiency of enzymatic conversion. The efficiency of ethanol conversion is significantly correlated with starch digestibility, pasting properties, and protein digestibility. Results also showed that HD sorghum lines had significantly faster rate of conversion and shorter reaction time needed to achieve completion than ND sorghum lines and corn. Increasing the dry solid concentration from 22% to 30% (w/v) increased the ethanol yield from 8% v/v to 13%v/v. This will allow considerable saving of water, reduced distillation cost and increased ethanol production for a given plant capacity and labor cost. Fineness of grind influences the amount of sugar formed due to variation in surface area of the flour. The hypothesis that finer particles has faster and higher glucose yield, defined as g of glucose converted per g of theoretical glucose, is supported by highly significant correlation of mass fraction of 3 to 60 mu m size range and mass median diameter (MMD) of 60 to 1000 mu m size range with glucose conversion efficiency and glucose conversion rate during saccharification and fermentation.

In this work, 80% lime-treated rice straw and 20% lime-treated chicken manure were used as substrates in rotary fermentors. Countercurrent fermentation was performed at various volatile solid loading rates (VSLR) and liquid residence times (LRT). The highest acid productivity of 1.69 g/(L·d) was at a total acid concentration of 32.4 g/L. The highest conversion and yield were 0.692 g VS digested/g VS fed and 0.29 g total acids/g VS fed, respectively. The continuum particle distribution model (CPDM) was used to predict product concentrations at various VSLR and LRT. CPDM predicted the experimental total acid concentration and conversion at an average error of 6.41% and 6.55%, respectively. A fixed-bed fermentation system was designed to perform pretreatment and fermentation in the same unit. High product concentrations (~48 g/L) as well as high conversions (0.741 g VS digested/g VS fed, F4, Train B) were obtained from the same fermentor. CPDM was extended to predict product concentrations in the fixed-bed fermentation system. The model gave a good estimate of the product concentrations and retention time. After biomass fermentation, the residue can be combusted to generate heat. For pretreatment purposes, the use of ash can replace lime. A study was performed using ash as a potential pretreatment agent. Ash from raw poplar wood was effective in pretreating poplar wood; however, ash from bagasse fermentation residues was not useful in pretreating bagasse. Previous modeling studies indicate that a conversion of 95% could be achieved with bagasse using countercurrent fermentation. Because lignin constitutes 13% of the dry weight of bagasse, this means lignin would have to be digested to obtain a conversion of 95%. Experiments on the fermentation of enzymatically liberated lignin from both poplar wood and bagasse do not show that solubilized lignin was fermented to organic acids by using a mixed culture of marine microorganisms. Two buffer systems (ammonium bicarbonate and calcium carbonate) were used to compare product concentrations of carboxylic acid fermentations using office paper and chicken manure. It has been demonstrated that the total product concentration using ammonium bicarbonate is almost double the product concentration using calcium carbonate.

A proprietary technology owned by Texas A

In kontinuierlichen Gärversuchen für unterschiedliche nachwachsende Rohstoffe in Mono- und Cofermentation wurden die Grenzen der Prozessstabilität ermittelt. Als Kennwert für die Optimierung und den direkten Vergleich der Gärversuche ist nur die Methangasproduktion in m3 Methan/(m3 Fermentervolumen* d) geeignet. In der Cofermentation der nachwachsenden Rohstoffe mit Rindergülle konnten Synergieeffekte nachgewiesen werden, die zu einem verbesserten anaeroben Abbau der Biomasse führten. Die Anwendung des zweistufigen Verfahrens auf die Vergärung von Gerstenkörnern führte zu keiner Verbesserung der Prozessstabilität und der Methangasproduktion. Die Vorausberechnung der Methangasausbeute mit Hilfe des Futterwertes führte nur zu einer qualitativen Vergleichbarkeit unterschiedlicher Substratklassen und gab nicht die tatsächliche Methangasausbeute im Vergärungsversuch wieder.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-112).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Kiel, 2000.

Thèse doctorat : Chimie : Strasbourg 1 : 2006. Thèse doctorat : Chimie : Milano-Bicocca - Italie : 2006. / Thèse soutenue en co-tutelle. Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr. 12 p.

The effect of simple and complex on the composition and diversity of microbial communities and on end-product (biogas and VFAs) synthesis was investigated using an anaerobic batch respirometer at 37 °C and pH 7.2. These experiments, simple substrates were chemically pure and contain a single carbon source (glucose or α-cellulose), while complex substrates were chemically “impure” substrates containing a mixture of two or three carbon sources (biodiesel-derived glycerol or wheat straw) with a substrate/inoculum ratio 6g chemical oxygen demand (COD)/ g volatile solids (VS) seed and 100g of pre-treated dairy manure digestate (DMD), respectively. Concentrations of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, acetate, butyrate, propionate, and ethanol synthesized by different communities selected by growth on the different substrates were measured and confirmed the growth of the microbial communities. 16S rDNA illumina sequencing revealed that DMD without substrates was more diverse than the microbiota cultured by fermentation reactions containing D-glucose, glycerol α-cellulose or wheat straw. The data confirmed that substrates play a crucial role in determining the diversity of species in microbial communities. Dominant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to families Clostridiaceae, Ruminococcaceae, and Enterobacteriaceae, and the genera Clostridium, Ruminococcus, Sporolactobacillus, and Syntrophomonas were potentially responsible for changes in end-product synthesis patterns in communities cultured with simple and complex substrates. / October 2015

Το τυρόγαλα είναι το βασικό απόβλητο των γαλακτοβιομηχανιών με σημαντικές περιβαλλοντικές επιπτώσεις, λόγω του υψηλού οργανικού του φορτίου, κυρίως της λακτόζης (4,8-5% w/v) που περιέχει. Στην παρούσα εργασία χρησιμοποιήθηκε ο ζυμομύκητας Kluyveromyces marxianus για τη ζύμωση του τυρογάλακτος προς παραγωγή αιθανόλης και προσδιορίσθηκαν οι βέλτιστες φυσικοχημικές συνθήκες (pH και θερμοκρασία) για τη διεργασία. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι σε pH 5,5 και 30oC επιτυγχάνεται μέγιστη ταχύτητα ζύμωσης και συγκέντρωση αιθανόλης. Στις ίδιες συνθήκες, μέτρηση του ρυθμού πρόσληψης λακτόζης επισημασμένης με 14C από το μικροοργανισμό έδειξε ότι αυτός σχετίζεται άμεσα με την κινητική της ζύμωσης. / Cheese whey is the main waste of dairy industries with significant environmental impacts due to the high organic load, mainly lactose (4,8-5% w / v) containing. In this work we used the yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus for whey fermentation to produce ethanol and determined the optimal physico-chemical conditions (pH and temperature) for the process. The results showed that at pH 5,5 and 30oC achieve maximum speed of fermentation and ethanol concentration. Under the same conditions, measuring the rate of uptake of 14C-labeled lactose by the microorganism showed that this is directly related to the kinetics of fermentation.