Repeated-batch ethanol fermentation from sweet sorghum juice by free cells of <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> NP 01

Abstract

Low-cost inoculum preparation (IP) media for ethanol production were developed. It was found that sweet sorghum juice (SSJ) containing 100 g l^-1 of total sugar without nutrient supplement could be used as the low-cost IP medium instead of the typical IP medium or yeast extract malt extract (YM) medium. Ethanol production from the SSJ (total soluble solids of 24 °Bx) by the inoculum of Saccharomyces cerevisiae NP 01 in batch and repeated-batch fermentations was then investigated. The fermentations were carried out under static condition in 500 ml air-locked Erlenmeyer flasks at 30°C and the initial yeast cell concentration was 1×10⁸ cells ml^-1. In the batch fermentation, the concentration (P), productivity (Q_p) and yield (Y_p/s) of ethanol were 110.09 ± 0.81 g l^-1, 2.29 ± 0.01 g l^-1 h^-1 and 0.51 ± 0.02, respectively. In the repeated-batch fermentation, the yeasts could be used at least eight successive batches without a marked decrease in ethanol production. The repeated-batch fermentation with fill and drain volume at 75% of the working volume gave higher ethanol production efficiencies than those at 50% of the working volume in terms of total ethanol production rate (g h^-1). The average P, Q_p and Y_p/s of the eight successive batches at 75% fill and drain volume in a 2 L bioreactor at the agitation rate of 100 rev min^-1 were 93.30 ± 9.44 g l^-1, 1.21 ± 0.43 g l^-1 h^-1 and 0.48 ± 0.03, respectively.

Key words: Repeated-batch, ethanol fermentation, low-cost nutrient, sweet sorghum juice, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.