• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.430-435
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• 1987

A chitin-immobilized enzyme amyloglucosidase(AMG) and a bacterium Zymomonas mobilis were coentrapped in alginate gel beads. Ethanol production was performed in a packed bed column reactor in a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation(SSF) mode using liquefied sago starch as a substrate. It was found that this process eliminated product inhibition and reverse reaction of glucose enhancing the rate of saccharification and ethanol production. At a low dilution rate of D = 0.11 hr$^{-1}$, the steady-state ethanol concentration was 46.0g/$m\ell$ (96.8 % of theoretical yield). The maximum ethanol productivity was 17.7g/$m\ell$, h at D = 0.83 hr$^{-1}$ when the calculation was based on the total working volume. The continuous production of ethanol was maintained stably over 40 days without problems in this reactor system.