• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1673-1680
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• 2012

In this study, DEAE-corncobs [delignified corncob grits derivatized with 2-(diethylamino)ethyl chloride hydrochloride ($DEAE{\cdot}HCl$)] were prepared as a carrier to immobilize yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) for ethanol production. The immobilized yeast cell reactor produced ethanol under optimized $DEAE{\cdot}HCl$ derivatization and adsorption conditions between yeast cells and the DEAE-corncobs. When delignified corncob grit (3.0 g) was derivatized with 0.5M $DEAE{\cdot}HCl$, the yeast cell suspension ($OD_{600}$ = 3.0) was adsorbed at >90% of the initial cell $OD_{600}$. This amount of adsorbed yeast cells was estimated to be 5.36 mg-dry cells/g-DEAE corncobs. The $Q_{max}$ (the maximum cell adsorption by the carrier) of the DEAE-corncobs was estimated to be 25.1 (mg/g), based on a Languir model biosorption isotherm experiment. When we conducted a batch culture with medium recycling using the immobilized yeast cells, the yeast cells on DEAE-corncobs produced ethanol gradually, according to glucose consumption, without cells detaching from the DEAE-corncobs. We observed under electron microscopy that the yeast cells grew on the surface and in the holes of the DEAE-corncobs. In a future study, DEAE-corncobs and the immobilized yeast cell reactor system will contribute to bioethanol production from biomass hydrolysates.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1434-1444
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• 2013

We established a two-step production process using immobilized S. cerevisiae and P. stipitis yeast to produce ethanol from seaweed (U. pertusa Kjellman) hydrolysate. The process was designed to completely consume both glucose and xylose. In particular, the yeasts were immobilized using DEAE-corncob and DEAE-cotton, respectively. The first step of the process included a continuous column reactor using immobilized S. cerevisiae, and the second step included a repeated-batch reactor using immobilized P. stipitis. It was verified that the glucose and xylose in 20 L of medium containing the U. pertusa Kjellman hydrolysate was converted completely to about 5.0 g/l ethanol through the two-step process, in which the overall ethanol yield from total reducing sugar was 0.37 and the volumetric ethanol productivity was 0.126 g/l/h. The volumetric ethanol productivity of the two-step process was about 2.7 times greater than that when P. stipitis was used alone for ethanol production from U. pertusa Kjellman hydrolysate. In addition, the overall ethanol yield from glucose and xylose was superior to that when P. stipitis was used alone for ethanol production. This two-step process will not only contribute to the development of an integrated process for ethanol production from glucose-and xylose-containing biomass hydrolysates, but could also be used as an alternative method for ethanol production.