Relatively High-Substrate Consistency Hydrolysis of Steam-Pretreated Sweet Sorghum Bagasse at Relatively Low Cellulase Loading

Glucan Conversion and Membrane Recovery of Biomimetic Cellulosomes During Lignocellulosic Biomass Hydrolysis

Enzyme immobilization has been identified as one way to recycle enzymes and reduce processing costs during enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials. However, most immobilization methods have not been attractive to lignocellulosic processing plants. In this study, cellulase enzymes were attached to a copolymer of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA) to make polymer-enzyme conjugates (PECs) and facilitate recovery using a 50-kDa molecular weight cutoff membrane. Glucan conversion during biomass hydrolysis was investigated using new PECs and PECs recovered after an initial hydrolysis stage. Enzyme immobilization on PECs did not reduce effectiveness during the initial hydrolysis. Temperature and pH showed similar effects on free enzymes and PECs. PECs facilitated higher conversion rates than free enzymes at high biomass loadings. Recovered PECs were used to achieve approximately 100% glucan conversion in a subsequent hydrolysis step when supplemented with 40% of the free enzyme used in the first stage. The combination of PECs and membrane recovery has the potential to reduce hydrolysis cost during cellulosic bioprocessing.

Kinetics of ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse enzymatic hydrolysate concentrated with molasses under cell recycle

In this work, a kinetic model for ethanol fermentation from sugarcane bagasse enzymatic hydrolysate concentrated with molasses was developed. A model previously developed for fermentation of pure molasses was modified by the inclusion of a new term for acetic acid inhibition on microorganism growth rate and the kinetic parameters were estimated as functions of temperature. The influence of the hydrolysate on the kinetic parameters is analyzed by comparing with the parameters from fermentation of pure molasses. The impact of cells recycling in the kinetic parameters is also evaluated, as well as on the ethanol yield and productivity. The model developed described accurately most of the fermentations performed in several successive batches for temperatures from 30 to 38°C.