Repeated-batch ethanol fermentation from sweet sorghum juice by free cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae 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 1×10 8 cells ml , 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.