Bioreactor Design For Solid State Lignocellulosic Hydrolysis: A Review

Abstract

Enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose to produce reducing sugars to be used as bioethanol raw material has recently attracted many scientists’ attention to investigate. It needs to be performed on a big scale, so it is essential to select an appropriate bioreactor. This work discusses enzymatic hydrolysis in solid-state. Solid hydrolysis is suitable for the growth of filamentous fungi to produce hydrolytic enzymes. A bioreactor is the heart of the process since the chemical reactions take place in it. In biochemical reactions, bioreactor plays two complementary functions, i.e., the reaction holder and the place for microorganism to grow. Therefore, to design a good bioreactor, these two functions should be considered carefully. Besides, we also developed a bioreactor with a continuous air supply to provide oxygen for hydrolytic fungi.