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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1986 January; 51(1): 115-122
Copyright © 1986, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Intermediate-Scale, Semicontinuous Solid-Phase Fermentation Process for Production of Fuel Ethanol from Sweet Sorghum

William R. Gibbons, Carl A. Westby* and Thomas L. Dobbs

1 Departments of Microbiology and Economics,2 Alcohol Fuel Research Laboratory, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota 57007

ABSTRACT

A novel, semicontinuous solid-phase fermentation system was used to produce fuel ethanol from sweet sorghum. The process was at an intermediate scale. In the process, dried and shredded sweet sorghum was rehydrated to 70% moisture, acidified to pH 2.0 to 3.0, and either pasteurized (12 h at 70 to 80°C) or not pasteurized before spray inoculation with a broth culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Fermented pulp exited the semicontinuous fermentor after a retention time of 72 h and contained approximately 6% (vol/vol) ethanol. Ethanol yields from dry sweet sorghum were 176 to 179 liters/103 kg (85% of theoretical). Production costs for a greatly scaled-up (x1,400) conceptual version of this system were projected by calculation to average $0.47/liter for 95% ethanol. The calculated energy balance (energy output/energy input ratio) was estimated to be 1.05 when pasteurization was included and 1.31 when pasteurization was omitted. In calculating the energy balances, the output energy of the protein feed byproduct and the input energy for growing the sweet sorghum were not considered. A design for the scaled-up plant (farm scale) is provided.

FOOTNOTES

* Corresponding author.

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1986 January; 51(1): 115-122
Copyright © 1986, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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Copyright © 1986 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.