Alternative fuels are important for the United States to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. Currently, ethanol is the only renewable fuel that is produced in commercial quantity. The demand for ethanol is increasing throughout the world. The production of ethanol is limited by the available feedstocks and processing technology.
Corn is the primary feedstock for ethanol in the United States. It is processed in either the wet milling or dry milling process. Both processes use either the batch or continuous fermentors. Both batch and continuous systems have operational restrictions with maintaining a good growth of yeast and preventing contamination with bacteria.
The use of Immobilized Microbe Bioreactors will provide a continuous system that maintains a growth of yeast and is resistant to bacteria. The Immobilized Microbe Bioreactors are packed with biocarrier which is a solid, porous, inorganic substance that provides a large surface area for attachment of the yeast cells. The yeast colonizes the internal surfaces as well as the external surfaces of the biocarrier. This provides a higher culture density of yeast which is resistant to bacterial contamination.
The feasibility of using the Immobilized Microbe Bioreactor was addressed by laboratory testing. Raw sugar and molasses were used as feedstocks. The Microbubble Generator was tested for the ability to saturate the feed with air to facilitate the growth of yeast. The yield of ethanol was determined by distilling azeotropic ethanol as an overhead product. The data indicated that the Immobilized Microbe Bioreactor could be an improvement to ethanol production systems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-01142008-150207 |
| Date | 18 January 2008 |
| Creators | King, William Bruce |
| Contributors | Ralph J. Portier, Edward B. Overton, Michael W. Wascom |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-01142008-150207/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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