Ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse by modified PDMS membrane in a membrane bioreactor: pervaporation technique

Abstract

BACKGROUNDBioethanol is considered a highly promising alternative to fossil fuels due to its derivation from renewable sources. Reducing the disadvantages of conventional fermentation requires removing the product from the fermentation broth after its formation. Therefore, coupling the membrane separation with a biological process in a single unit leads a reduction of substrate and product inhibitions.RESULTSIn this work, bioethanol production was investigated in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) with sugarcane bagasse (lignocellulose waste) as a renewable source by the sulfuric acid hydrolysis process. Firstly, the optimum conditions to produce the maximum amount of sugar by acid hydrolysis were determined. Second, the membrane bioreactor and pervaporation unit equipped with poly(dimethyl siloxane) carbon nanotube/Tetrazole membrane (PDMS‐CNT/Tetrazole) was fabricated. Third, bioethanol production in a conventional batch reactor (CBR) and the novel MBR was implemented. The outcomes of the two kinds of reactors were then compared. The results illustrated that the optimum conditions for acid hydrolysis are at a temperature of 199.4 °C, an operation time of 30.77 min, and an acid concentration of 1.12%. The obtained data shows that the ethanol production in MBR was increased by 103.6% over conventional fermentation. Furthermore, the pervaporated ethanol concentration was higher than that of the broth because of the high membrane selectivity, where a maximum ethanol concentration of 165.7 g L−1 in the cold trap was achieved.CONCLUSIONFinally, the results illustrate that the MBR can decrease the cell density growth rate and dominate any substrate and product inhibitions, while keeping process productivity for ethanol quite high. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).