Feasibility Study of Ethanol Production from Food Wastes by Consolidated Continuous Solid-State Fermentation

Abstract

To save the cost and input energy for bioethanol production, a consolidated continuous solid-state fermentation (CCSSF) system composed of a rotating drum reactor, a humidifier and a condenser has been developed. In this research, the feasibility of using this system for production of ethanol from food wastes was carried out. The ethanol conversion of bread crust and rice grain (uncooked rice) as substrates reached up to 100.9% ± 5.1% and 108.0% ± 7.9% (against theoretical yield), respectively. Even for bread crust, a processed starchy material which contained lower carbohydrate content than rice grain, the amount of ethanol obtained in a unit of CCSSF per year was higher due to easy sacchari fication and fermentation. The salt contained in potato chips directly affected yeast activity resulting to low ethanol conversion (80.7% ± 4.7% against theoretical yield).