Material For Ethanol Production Research Articles

Estimation of genetic parameters and selection gains for sweet potato using Bayesian inference with a priori information

The selection of superior sweet potato genotypes using Bayesian inference is an important strategy for genetic improvement. Sweet potatoes are of social and economic importance, being the material for ethanol production. The estimation of variance components and genetic parameters using Bayesian inference is more accurate than that using the frequently used statistical methodologies. This is because the former allows for using a priori knowledge from previous research. Therefore, the present study estimated genetic parameters and selection gains, predicted genetic values, and selected sweet potato genotypes using a Bayesian approach with a priori information. Root shape, soil insect resistance, and root and shoot productivity of 24 sweet potato genotypes were measured. Heritability, genotypic variation coefficient, residual variation coefficient, relative variation index, and selection gains direct, indirect and simultaneous were estimated, and the data were analyzed using Bayesian inference. Data from 11 experiments were used to obtain a priori information. Bayesian inference was a useful tool for decision-making, and significant genetic gains could be achieved with the selection of the evaluated genotypes. Root shape, soil insect resistance, commercial root productivity, and total root productivity showed higher heritability values. Clones UFVJM06, UFVJM40, UFVJM54, UFVJM09, and CAMBRAIA can be used as parents in future breeding programs.

UTILIZATION OF WATER YAM (Dioscorea alata) AS A SOURCE OF ETHANOL

Ethanol (C2H5OH) is a primary alcohol which can be produced by fermentation, using any of the sources of carbohydrates such as sugarcane, cassava, grains and yam tubers among others. Production of ethanol fermented from renewable sources for fuel and fuel additives are known as bioethanol. Since the need of bioethanol is increasing, the production of bioethanol must be increased using cheaper and eco friendly raw materials. This study was conducted, using cheaper and eco friendly raw materials; water yam (Dioscorea alata) as alternative sources for ethanol production. The starch that was produced from water yam was hydrolysed into fermentable sugar, using acid hydrolysis. The fermentable sugar was converted into ethanol by fermentation process at pH 4.5 using fermenting brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces calsbergensis). Starch, glucose and ethanol which were obtained were analysed for physicochemical properties. Findings revealed that the starch sample obtained gave a blue-black colouration on addition of few drops of iodine solution. This confirmed that the carbohydrate content was mainly starch. On calculation of viability, findings further showed that water yam is a good raw material for production of ethanol, therefore indigenous production of ethanol obtained from water yam is economically viable and recommended. This will save the country from lot of money spends annually on the importation of ethanol and it can also provide job opportunity for many wandering and unemployed Nigerians.

Process Simulation of Ethanol Production from Jerusalem Artichoke Stalk

Lignocellulosic biomass can serve as raw material for ethanol production. However, lignocellulosic biomass is a complex mixture of carbohydrates that need additional processes for efficient ethanol production, such as pretreatment and hydrolysis before fermented into ethanol. Therefore, this work mainly focused on the creation and simulation of a model of ethanol production from Jerusalem artichoke stalk (JAS) following experimental data and using the commercial software ASPEN Plus with and without a heat exchanger network (HEN). Alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment (AHP) was the first step for this process. The optimal conditions of AHP were a mixture of 2% w/w sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and 4% v/v hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at 10% (w/v) solid-liquid ratio and 121°C for 90 min. After treatment, 10% AHP-JAS loading was fed to enzymatic hydrolysis at 50°C and the fermentation process at 30°C. The simulation suggested that a feedstock of 60,000 kg of JAS could yield 3,482.16 kg ethanol. The purification section by the extractive distillation system had 12 stages, a distillate to feed mole ratio (D/F) of 0.13, and a reflux mole ratio (R/R) of 1.5. The purity of the ethanol product was higher than 97 wt%. After the model simulation, HEN was designed by using Aspen Energy Analyzer. After the installation of HEN in this process, the ethanol plant with HEN showed a better result, which at 16.24 percentages reduced total cost compared to the process without HEN.

Synthesis and Sustainability Evaluation of a Lignocellulosic Multifeedstock Biorefinery Considering Technical Performance Indicators.

Nowadays, green-chemistry principles offer an approach that fits to ensure chemical process sustainability by the use of low-cost renewable raw materials, waste prevention, inherent safer designs, among others. Based on this motivation, this study presents a novel methodology for sustainable process design that comprises the synthesis of a multifeedstock optimal biorefinery under simultaneous optimization of economic and environmental targets and further sustainability evaluation using the sustainability weighted return on investment metric (SWROIM). The first step of the proposed method is the formulation of an optimization model to generate the most suitable process alternatives. The model took into account various biomasses as available raw materials for production of ethanol, butanol, succinic acid, among others. Process technologies such as fermentation, anaerobic digestion, gasification, among others, were considered for biorefinery design. Once the model synthesizes the optimal biorefinery, we used environmental, safety, economic, and energy analyses to assess the process, which is a case study for north Colombia. Process simulation generated the data needed (extended mass and energy balances, property estimation, and modeling of downstream) to develop the process analysis stage via the Aspen Plus software. Results for the environmental and economic analyses showed that the assumption considered to solve the optimization problem was adequate, yielding promising environmental and economic outcomes. Finally, the overall sustainability evaluation showed a SWROIM of 27.29%, indicating that the case study showed higher weighted performance compared to the return on investment (ROI) metric of 14.33%.

Resistance of Saccharine Sorghum Cultivars to Sugarcane Borer Diatraea saccharalis

The saccharine sorghum has been investigated as a complementary source of raw material for ethanol production, especially during the sugarcane off-season, however, it has been susceptible to the attack of the sugarcane borer Diatraea saccharalis. The objective of this work was to verify the effect of sorghum cultivars on D. saccharalis’ biological parameters. Cultivars, BRS 506, BRS 509 and BRS 511 were used to determine duration and survival rates of eggs, larvae, pre-pupae and pupa phases, along with larval weight and adult longevity. D. saccharalis completed its biological cycle in all treatments, however, when fed with dry extracts of BRS 509 cultivar, the net reproduction rate, the intrinsic rate of increase and the finite rate of increase was superior from the others. BRS 506 was the cultivar that negatively affected D. saccharalis’ biological parameters, with possible antibiosis effect. Based on this study, the sorghum cultivars evaluated are not recommended for a grain production system, since D. saccharalis’ larvae presented good development when fed with its dry extract incorporated into the diet.

Bioethanol from Lignocellulosic Materials: Options, Challenges and Path Forward

Biofuels are the renewable fuels of biological origin and a good substitute to petroleum fuels for the transport sector. Among biofuels, bioethanol has been gaining worldwide acceptance as an alternative source to gasoline. The major raw material for production of ethanol has been the sugarcane molasses. Since molasses alone cannot meet the total requirement, production of ethanol from cellulosic and lignocellulosic biomass is being explored as a possible alternate source. Lignocellulosic material in the form of agricultural residue holds enormous potential as a source of ethanol because it is the most abundant renewable biomass available on the earth. This article provides a broad overview on lignocellulosic biomass availability and technologies available for its conversion into bioethanol. This would serve as the reference paper for the researchers, policy makers and industries involved in making bioethanol from renewable biomass a reality.

‘Experimental investigation of the effect of ambient gas temperature on the autoignition properties of ethanol–diesel fuel blends’

Due to increasing fuel consumption in various industries, especially in road transport, interest in increasing the market proportion of renewable fuels is growing. The raw materials for production of ethanol may include sugar beets, sugar cane, potatoes and many other plants containing starch. In some countries, ethanol has been successfully used for many years as a self-contained fuel in positive-ignition engines after subjection to relatively minor technical modifications. Due, among other things, to a very low cetane number, this fuel cannot be used in diesel engines. For this reason, increasing attention is being paid to fuels that are blends of diesel with some ethanol fraction. Diesel fuel containing up to 15% (v/v) of ethanol is sometimes referred to as e-diesel or oxygenated diesel. In this study, the autoignition properties of blends of typical diesel fuel with ethanol have been tested with ethanol contents up to 14% (v/v) and where a constant volume combustion chamber was used. The study determined the effect of gaseous medium temperature in the range 550–650 °C on the period of ignition delay and the period of combustion delay. The average and maximum rates of pressure rise in the combustion chamber were also analysed. Studies have shown that, with an increase of ethanol fraction in diesel fuel, the periods of ignition and combustion delay increase, and the increase in the temperature of the gaseous medium into which the fuel is injected shortens these periods to a varying extent.

Use of the constant volume combustion chamber to examine the properties of autoignition and derived cetane number of mixtures of diesel fuel and ethanol

Due to increasing fuel consumption in various industries, especially in road transport, interest in increasing the market proportion of renewable fuels is growing. One of such fuels is ethanol. The raw materials for production of ethanol may include sugar beets, sugar cane, potatoes and many other plants containing starch. Ethanol can be used as a self-contained fuel in positive-ignition engines, which undergo relatively minor technical modifications. However, in diesel engines with compression ignitions, due to, e.g., a very low cetane number, this fuel cannot be used. Therefore, more attention is given to fuels consisting of mixtures of diesel fuel with certain proportions of ethanol. In this paper, the properties of autoignition mixtures of conventional diesel and ethanol, with ethanol content of up to 14% (v/v), were examined. A combustion chamber of constant volume was used in the study. The effect of injection pressure in the range of 80MPa–140MPa on the period of ignition delay and the period of combustion delay was determined in the study. In addition, for each mixture of diesel fuel and ethanol, the value of derived cetane number was examined. The studies have shown that with increasing proportions of ethanol, the ignition and combustion delays periods increase and the increase in fuel injection pressure in varying degrees shortens those periods. It was also shown that in the range of 14% ethanol, for every 2% increase in the proportion of ethanol, the derived cetane number of the mixture of diesel and ethanol is reduced by an average of 1.7 units.

Alkaline pretreatment for practicable production of ethanol and xylooligosaccharides

AbstractThe economics for production of secondgeneration (2G) ethanol from sugarcane bagasse in large scale, competing with the cogeneration of electric energy, is still not consolidated. In this scenario, the key for feasibility may be the biorefinery concept, a multiproduct industry using biomass fractions to produce energy, chemicals and by-products. Xylooligosaccharides (XOS) are oligomers of xylose often used as additives in food, animal feeds, and drugs. The effect of NaOH pretreatment on the recovery of xylan for XOS production from sugarcane bagasse under different conditions, namely 121°C, 4-7% NaOH loading, was investigated. The best condition was 4% NaOH and 60 min of reaction, achieving 55% of xylan extraction, without monomer production. In order to produce XOS, soluble and immobilized xylanases were used to hydrolyze commercial birchwood xylan (as control) and the sugarcane bagasse xylan. The immobilized endoxylanase produced XOS with 37% of xylobiose and 20% of xylotriose (w/w). The small production of xylose clearly indicated the purity of the xylan extracted from sugarcane bagasse. The biocatalyst had more than 90% of its activity preserved after 5 reaction cycles. The results showed the suitability of sugarcane bagasse as a raw material for production of ethanol and of XOS using immobilized xylanase.

Emergy efficiency analysis of sugarcane as a raw material for ethanol production

In recent years, the expansion of sugarcane cultivation in Brazil and its growing importance in the Brazilian economy have been driven by a sharp increase in fuel alcohol production. This increase in fuel alcohol production was accompanied by increasing interest regarding the impacts of fuel crops in Brazil. In this study, regions of sugarcane expansion into deforested areas in the Atlantic Forest were studied by applying the emergy theory and indices. Environmental and economic inputs and the sustainability of the sugarcane production system were evaluated with the emergy method. The transformity (TR) was equal to 1.78E+11 seJ kg-1, the yield rate (EYR) was equal to 1.30, the investment rate was equal to 3.29, the environmental load rate was equal to 4.33, the renewability rate was equal to 18.77, and the exchange rate was equal to 1.09. The emergy indices of corn, cassava, wheat, and sugarcane (as raw materials for ethanol production) were used. In Brazil, sugarcane production for ethanol production was more emergetically sustainable based on the analysed emergy indices.

Utilization of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Hydrolysate for Ethanol Production by Baker's Yeast and Loog-Pang

Oil palm empty fruit bunch is a potential source of glucose which can serve as a promising raw material for production of ethanol. Ethanol production was investigated by using separation hydrolysis and fermentation process (SHF), in which yeast from loog-pang (a Thai traditional fermentation starter culture) and baker's yeast were used as biocatalyst. After alkali pretreatment with 15% w/v NaOH for 40min at 130°C, Cellulose was analyzed to be 61.94% (on dry weight basis). Glucose was 33.45g/L after cellulose was hydrolyzed by 7% v/v H2SO4 at 119°C for 110min. The resulting aqueous phase rich in glucose was fermented by yeast from baker's yeast to produce ethanol with the concentration of 8.49g/L with is 56 times higher than loog-pang as yeast. Therefore, implementation of oil palm empty fruit bunch for the development of alternative source of energy could be an effective approach and key enable to the billion-ton biofuel vision.

The influence of different referencing methods on the accuracy of δ(13) C value measurement of ethanol fuel by gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry.

Brazil is the largest producer of sugar cane bioethanol in the world. Isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) is the technique of choice to certify the origin/raw materials for ethanol production, but the lack of certified reference materials (CRMs) for accurate measurements of δ(13) C values traceable to Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite (VPDB), the international zero point for (13) C/(12) C measurements, certified and compatible with gas chromatography (GC)/IRMS instruments may compromise the accuracy of δ(13) C determinations. We evaluated the influence of methods for the calibration and normalization of raw δ(13) C values of ethanol samples. Samples were analyzed by GC/C/IRMS using two different GC columns. Different substances were used as isotopic standards for the working gas calibration. The δ(13) C values obtained with the three methods of normalization were statistically compared with those obtained with elemental analyzer (EA)/IRMS, since the δ(13) C results obtained using EA are traceable to VPDB via the NBS 22 reference material. It was observed that both the isotopic reference material for CO2 calibration and the GC column have a major effect on the δ(13) C measurements, leading to a bias of almost 2-3 ‰ in the δ(13) C values. All three methods of normalization were equivalent in performance, enabling an improvement in the GC/C/IRMS accuracy, compared with the EA/IRMS reference values for the samples. All the methods of CO2 calibration, chromatography and normalization presented in this work demonstrated several sources of traceability and accuracy loss for the determination of δ(13) C values in ethanol fuel samples by GC/C/IRMS. This work has also shown the importance of using proper CRMs traceable to VPBD that should be compatible and certified using GC/C/IRMS, ideally in a wide range of δ(13) C values. This is important not only for bioethanol fuel samples, but also for many analytes commonly analyzed by IRMS.

The Effect of Decomposition Time on Cellulose Degradation in Ionic Liquid/Acid with Pressurized CO2

Cellulose material is the most abundant carbohydrate that has a simple polymer structure, but it forms ofcrystalline micro-fibrils lead it insoluble in various solvent and highly resistant for hydrolysis process. Thedegradation of cellulose into glucose will increase the raw material for production of ethanol, isopropanol orbutanol. The conversion into oligomer can be applied for pharmaceutical, food additives, etc. There are manytechnologies for conversion of cellulose such as degradation with ionic liquids, acid, enzymatic/fermentation,and hydrothermal. In this work, we studied cellulose decomposition by hydrothermal process, and a combinationwith ionic liquids. We used NaCl as a simple ionic liquid, oxalic acid as a catalyst, and CO2 as pressurizing gasin order to enhance the degradability of cellulose in water. Cellulose and NaCl/oxalic acid solution (20 gr L-1)was conducted under 70 bar of subcritical CO2 in 125ºC and various decomposition times (1 to 5 h). Afterdecomposition time was achieved, the sample was separated between liquid and solid. For liquid product wereanalyzed by Dinitrosalicylic acid method (DNS method) using spectrophotometry UV-Vis and LiquidChromatography – Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS). And solid products were analyzed by using X-Ray Diffraction(XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The result shows that the glucose concentrations was increasewith an increasing decomposition time and reach a maximum at 4 hour. SEM and XRD showed the changes inthe morphology and the structure of cellulose.

Production of Ethanol from Fruits and Waste Food

Ethanol was produced from different fruits using Baker's yeast. We had chosen fruits having sugars >10%. Some juices were used for ethanol production. Food materials after the expiry date are generally thrown. We have used some of these food materials for ethanol production. Ethanol is obtained depending on sugar present in the fruits. We achieved maximum 6.63%w/v ethanol using banana. Among juices we obtained maximum 6.38% ethanol using guava juice. Tamarind was subjected to extraction and fermentation simultaneously. We have obtained 8.99% w/v alcohol from tamarind. Pectin and tartaric acid were precipitated as calcium salts. After precipitation ethanol concentration was 7.68% w/v having 85.42% efficiency.

A Promising Low Beta-Glucan Barley Mutation of m351 for Better Bioethanol Production Use

Bioethanol is an important liquid fuel complement. Barley is a potential alternative raw material for ethanol production because its by-product is a nutritious feed. The barley m351mutant, which has a mutation for low beta-glucan content, was tested for its ethanol production efficiency and feed fraction quality in a pilot fermentation experiment. Grain samples of m351 and the corresponding wild type of Harrington were either treated or untreated with beta-glucanase during the ethanol production process. Compared to the corresponding wild-type line, m351 produced the same amount of ethanol. More importantly, the feed fraction derived from the fermentation process showed 5 % more protein and 7 % less beta-glucan than that from the wild type, indicating that the feed fraction from m351 was more valuable. The experiments provided evidence that m351 is a useful genetic resource for developing barley cultivars for use in bioethanol production.

Genetic analysis of traits contributing to stalk sugar yield in sorghum

Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is a potential raw material for production of ethanol that on blending in petrol is expected to meet the energy demand and address the environmental issues. Well-developed hybrid technology will make the crop remunerative to the farmers. Hence, gene action and best combining female and male parents for sugar yield in sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and the association of sugar yield with other agronomic traits was studied in 171 hybrids developed by crossing 19 female parents with nine male parents in line × tester design and evaluated during both rainy and postrainy seasons of 2006. The significant differences between the seasons for all the traits suggested that these traits are greatly influenced by the environment. The lines (female parents) ICSA 38, ICSA 479, ICSA 702, ICSA 675 and ICSA 474 and the restorers (male parents), SSV 74 and SSV 84 combined well for sugar yield during rainy season and the lines, ICSA 702, ICSA 38 and ICSA 474 and the restorers, ICSV 93046, SPV 1411 and ICSV 700 combined well during postrainy season. The magnitude of SCA variance was higher suggesting the importance of non-additive gene action in inheritance of all the traits though both additive and dominant genes controlled overall sugar yield during both the seasons. Hence, selection in early generation would be ineffective and recurrent selection with periodic intercrossing is advocated. However, breeding good combining restorer parents can fetch high sugar yield in postrainy season. There is an indication of existence of transgressive segregation for sugar yield that can be exploited. The sugar yield was weak though significantly correlated with high brix and poor grain yield during both the seasons requiring extensive crossing to improve these traits simultaneously. Keeping in view mean performance, SCA effects and heterobeltiosis, the hybrids, ICSA 474 × SSV 84, ICSA 24001 × ICSR 93046 and ICSA 474 × SPV 422 were identified promising for rainy season and the hybrids ICSA 24001 × SPV 1411 and ICSA 511 × ICSV 93046 were identified for postrainy season.

Immobilization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on to modified carboxymethylcellulose for production of ethanol

In this work, modified carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) was used as a new support material for production of ethanol. Crosslinked graft copolymers of CMC with N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (N-VP) were prepared in different grafting yields. The beads material was characterized by means of fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and swelling experiment. Saccharomyces cerevisiae was immobilized using entrapment method in the graft copolymers of carboxymethylcellulose-g-poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (CMC-g-PVP) for ethanol fermentation. The effects of grafting yield, initial glucose concentration and crosslinker concentration on the yield of ethanol process were investigated. Reusability of the immobilized yeasts was investigated and found that the materials can be used four times without losing their activity. Ethanol production increased to 59.3 g/L from 46.4 g/L when percentage of N-VP in the graft copolymer was increased. The highest ethanol productivity was found to be 1.75-2.25 g/L h. Fermentation time decreased with the decreasing of crosslinker concentration. The results suggest that the proposed method for immobilization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has potential in industrial applications for ethanol process.

Carbohydrate composition in delayed harvested reed canary grass

Abstract Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) samples of the Palaton variety grown at 10 different locations in northern Europe were analyzed and the effect of growing location and soil type on the carbohydrate composition and lignin content were investigated. The results showed that the major carbohydrate components in delayed harvested reed canary grass were glucose and xylose. Some growing locations and soil types significantly influenced the carbohydrate composition of the grass. Soils with both high organic and clay content produced lower glucose and xylose contents but an increased lignin content. A soil rich in sand gave higher glucose, xylose and arabinose content. Reed canary grass is a perennial rhizome grass that has shown potential as an energy crop for solid bio-fuel production and as a short fibre raw material for the pulp and paper industry. This study showed that delayed harvested reed canary grass can also be a potential new raw material for ethanol production.

Influence of antioxidant extraction on fermentability of olive biomass hydrolysates

Olive tree biomass has been proposed as raw material for ethanol production by means of a biochemical process. The pretreatment is one of the key steps which results in a celluloseenriched pretreated solid and a liquid fraction (hydrolysate) containing most of the hemicellulosic derived sugars, as well as degradation products from sugars and lignin and other minor components. It is of great interest the presence in these hydrolysates of compounds with antioxidant capacity, because their exploitation could affect positively the economy of the global process. This work deals with the fermentation of olive tree biomass hydrolysates by Pichia stipitis. Hydrolysates were prepared from biomass submitted to steam explosion and liquid hot water pretreatments, at different temperatures (170–240 ◦ C). Hydrolysates were further submitted to a process aimed at separating compounds with antioxidant capacity and improve fermentation results by eliminating yeast inhibitors. The fermentability of the hydrolysates before and after separation of these compounds is compared. Separation procedures include organic solvent extraction (e.g., ethyl acetate, which separates phenolic compounds) and ion exchange resins, which allow interesting compounds to be obtained, mainly hydroxytirosol. In the latter case, the process described in the patent procedure (US 2004/0102657A1) is followed, including the use of an anionic resin for retaining certain polyphenolic compounds, and then elution with water.

Yeast immobilization on lignocellulosic materials for ethanol production used as fuel

Yeast immobilization on lignocellulosic materials for ethanol production used as fuel