Ethanol Production from Sugarcane Bagasse Pretreated by Steam Explosion

Abstract

Bioethanol is an alternative renewable fuel that can be produced from cellulosic biomass through hydrolysis and fermentation based processes. Sugarcane bagasse constitutes a potential lignocellulosic substrate for bioethanol production, since it has high sugar content and is a renewable, cheap and readily available feedstock. In this work, steam explosion pretreatment at different temperatures (200°C, 215°C and 230°C) for 5 min was evaluated on sugarcane bagasse for ethanol production by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). Sugar recovery in the solid and liquid fraction obtained after pretreatment and the enzymatic digestibility of the pretreated material were used to determine the optimum temperature, 215°C for 5 min, which resulted in an overall glucose yield of 86.8% of the content in raw material. The solid fraction of sugarcane bagasse pretreated at 215°C was submitted to SSF at increasing solid loading and the effect of xylanase supplementation and a presaccharification step was assessed. The highest final ethanol concentration (56.3 g L -1 ) was achieved with SSF supplemented with xylanase enzyme at 20% of solid concentration. Ethanol yields exceeded 0.30 g per gram of glucose in all the conditions tested. The results obtained demonstrate the effectiveness of steam explosion in the treatment of sugarcane bagasse fiber.

Bioethanol Production by an Ethanol-Tolerant Bacillus cereus Strain GBPS9 Using Sugarcane Bagasse and Cassava Peels as Feedstocks

“…Moreover, it has been reported that minor differences in the chemical composition of bagasse between the different varieties of sugarcane exist [32]. Amores et al [5] reported a total carbohydrate of 65% dry weight for sugarcane bagasse used in ethanol production. El-Tayeb et al [33] reported total carbohydrate composition of 86.9% w/w for bagasse.…”

“…The use of steam explosion pre-treated bagasse is supported by several studies. Ferreira-Leitão et al [39] and Amores et al [5] have reported steam explosion pre-treatment for bagasse used as feedstock for ethanol production. Martin et al [40] reported bagasse pre-treatment by steam explosion using different impregnating agents.…”

“…Researchers [5,39] have reported different pre-treatment methods for sugarcane bagasse. In this study the selected pre-treatment method for bagasse was steam explosion.…”

“…Agricultural wastes such as sugarcane bagasse and cassava are examples of lignocellulosics and have been employed in bioethanol production [4,5]. Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is used worldwide as a feedstock for ethanol and sugar production [6] and Nigeria is one of the most important producers of the crop with a land potential of over 500,000 hectares of suitable cane field capable of producing over 3.0 million metric tonnes of sugarcane [7].…”

Comparative Performance of Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Bagasse and Parkia Biglobosa (Locust Bean) in Wastewater Treatment

“…Saccharum officinarum (sugarcane) bagasse is the solid remains obtained after the extraction of juice from the sugarcane [2,3,4]. Sugarcane bagasse is composed of: 43.6% by mass cellulose, 33.8% hemicellulose, 18.1% lignin, 2.3% ash and 0.8% wax on a dry weight basis [3,5].…”