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During the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for second generation bioethanol production, fermentation inhibitors are released. To overcome this, the use of a robust industrial strain together with agro-industrial by-products as nutritional supplementation was proposed to increase ethanol productivity and yields. Two factorial experimental designs were carried out to optimize fermentation of hydrolysate from autohydrolysis of Eucalyptus globulus. The most influential variables on ethanol production were cheese whey and K 2 O 5 S 2 (potassium metabisulfite) supplementation. Nutrient addition effect was demonstrated using the whole slurry from autohydrolysis in two process configurations (separate hydrolysis and fermentation, SHF and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation, SSF). Comparing the supplemented SHF and SSF assays with non-supplemented, 2.3 and 7.4 fold higher ethanol concentrations were obtained, respectively. In the case of SSF, 50.4 g L −1 of ethanol concentration and 92.2% of ethanol conversion were attained, demonstrating an improved fermentation performance in industrial lignocellulose fermentations.

Industrial lignocellulosic bioethanol processes are exposed to different environmental stresses (such as inhibitor compounds, high temperature, and high solid loadings). In this study, a systematic approach was followed where the liquid and solid fractions were mixed to evaluate the influence of varied solid loadings, and different percentages of liquor were used as liquid fraction to determine inhibitor effect. Ethanol production by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of hydrothermally pretreated Eucalyptus globulus wood (EGW) was studied under combined diverse stress operating conditions (30-38°C, 60-80 g of liquor from hydrothermal treatment or autohydrolysis (containing inhibitor compounds)/100 g of liquid and liquid to solid ratio between 4 and 6.4 g liquid in SSF/g unwashed pretreated EGW) using an industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain supplemented with low-cost byproducts derived from agro-food industry. Evaluation of these variables revealed that the combination of temperature and higher solid loadings was the most significant variable affecting final ethanol concentration and cellulose to ethanol conversion, whereas solid and autohydrolysis liquor loadings had the most significant impact on ethanol productivity. After optimization, an ethanol concentration of 54 g/L (corresponding to 85 % of conversion and 0.51 g/Lh of productivity at 96 h) was obtained at 37°C using 60 % of autohydrolysis liquor and 16 % solid loading (liquid to solid ratio of 6.4 g/g). The selection of a suitable strain along with nutritional supplementation enabled to produce noticeable ethanol titers in quite restrictive SSF operating conditions, which can reduce operating cost and boost the economic feasibility of lignocellulose-to-ethanol processes.

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Glycerol was used as a source of additional carbon in the production of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P(3HB)). The inverted sugar and glycerol concentrations and the temperature of the Cupriavidus necator culture medium were evaluated using a Central Composite Rotational Design (CCRD). The results showed that the increase in temperature and sugar concentration led to an increase in production and P(3HB) accumulation and when 15 g L -1 of glycerol was added better results were obtained, however these were not considered statistically significant. The best results were obtained at 38 °C and with 30 g L -1 of inverted sugar. Although not considered statistically significant, the addition of 15 g L -1 of glycerol increased the P(3HB) accumulation percentage by 15 %, thus in kinetic terms, greater productivity was obtained in 0.32 g L -1 h -1 polymer. Larger scale assays are being conducted to verify if the addition of glycerol improves the thermal and mechanical properties of the synthesized polymer.

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Glycerol was used as a source of additional carbon in the production of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P(3HB)). The inverted sugar and glycerol concentrations and the temperature of the Cupriavidus necator culture medium were evaluated using a Central Composite Rotational Design (CCRD). The results showed that the increase in temperature and sugar concentration led to an increase in production and P(3HB) accumulation and when 15 g L-1 of glycerol was added better results were obtained, however these were not considered statistically significant. The best results were obtained at 38 °C and with 30 g L-1 of inverted sugar. Although not considered statistically significant, the addition of 15 g L-1 of glycerol increased the P(3HB) accumulation percentage by 15 %, thus in kinetic terms, greater productivity was obtained in 0.32 g L-1 h-1 polymer. Larger scale assays are being conducted to verify if the addition of glycerol improves the thermal and mechanical properties of the synthesized polymer.