Process Optimization for the Production of Ethanol Via Fermentation

Abstract

A fermenting strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was utilized for alcoholic fermentation using sugarcane molasses. The fermentation of molasses was optimized with respect to temperature, pH and sugar concentration. Results revealed a temperature of 30°C, pH 6.0 and 20% sugar concentration as optimum for fermentation. GC method for estimating percentage of ethanol was employed. After optimizing these parameters, the experiment was scaled to fermenter level. Immobilization of yeast cells was carried out by entrapment in 2% calcium alginate and tested for ethanol production. Under optimized conditions, S. cerevisiae produced 11.6% of ethanol. Immobilization resulted in 10.4%ethanol after 48 hours and the same yeast cells were reused to carry out fermentation. The reuse of immobilized cells gave 7.9% ethanol yield.