Chapter 10 - Evaluation and comparison between simultaneous saccharification and fermentation and separated hydrolysis and fermentation process

Abstract

Bioethanol has been identified as the most commonly used biofuel worldwide. Their existence significantly contributes to the reduction of crude oil consumption and environmental pollution. During bioethanol processing, hydrolysis and fermentation are considered as an important process to obtain high ethanol yield. In principle, substrate loading, enzyme concentration, yeast, total time of the process, and temperature affect the ethanol yield. The objective of this study is to evaluate and compare between simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) and separated hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) processes for second-generation bioethanol production. Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) and bagasse sorghum are used as a raw material to evaluate these processes. The results show that by using the SSF process, an ethanol yield can be obtained of more than 96% in a short time (24–48hours) for both raw materials. The SSF process is more efficient than the SHF process due to having a higher ethanol yield and shorter time than the SHF process, which reduces the production cost.