Continuous ethanol production from wood hydrolysate by chemostat and total cell retention culture

Abstract

Chemostat and total cell retention cultures with internal filter system of Saccharomyces cerevisiae H1-7 were carried out to produce ethanol from wood hydrolysate. Maximum ethanol productivity obtained in a chemostat with the aeration rate of 1 vvm was 3.79 g/(L . h). This was 20% higher than that in a chemostat without aeration. However, the substrate was not completely consumed at the dilution rate with the maximum productivity. The realistic productivity, which has higher than 99% conversion rate of substrate, was 2.95 g/(L . h). The maximum productivity in the total cell retention culture was 6.65 g/(L . h) at the dilution rate of 0.19 h(1) and the residual glucose concentration was negligible.