Optimization of media for bioethanol production by Pichia stipitis from sugarcane bagasse pretreated by dilute acid

Abstract

Introduction: Reduction of fossil fuels due to its increasing consumption caused the biofuels production as an important topic, today. Using resources that have not food application was regarded as the second generation biofuels and consisted of lignocelluloses. Since considerable amount of lignocellulosic material are pentoses, utilizing them is important for the production of biofuels. Materials and methods: Sugarcane bagasse was pretreated with dilute acid method. Pichia stipitis was used for the fermentation of released sugars. A L27 Taguchi orthogonal array was considered to optimize the fermentation process and increase the amount of ethanol. The eight factors with three levels considering nitrogen, phosphorus, zinc, sulfur, magnesium, and vitamins sources were considered in this study. Results: The analysis of the results shows that corn steep liquor, ammonium hydrogen phosphate, potassium di-hydrogen phosphate and magnesium sulfate have a significant effect on the production of ethanol, respectively. Confirmation of the optimal conditions shows that ethanol production was increased 97% relative to the mean of the observed results. The yield and productivity during 48 h of the fermentation were reached to 0.26 (g ethanol/g consumed sugar) and 0.125g (L.h), respectively. Discussion and conclusion: At the optimum condition the production of ethanol from sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate had higher efficiency relative to previous studies. Results of medium optimization considering cheap resources showed showed an excellent potential toward an economical bioethanol production process.

Keywords

• Dilute acid
• Optimization
• Pichia stipitis
• Pretreatment
• Sugarcane bagasse