A MICRO-REACTOR BASED ENERGY EFFICIENT PROCESS FOR ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS OF LIGNOCELLULOSIC SUBSTRATE AND FOR BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION.

摘要

A micro-reactor based energy efficient process for enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic substrate and for bioethanol production A micro-reactor based energy-efficient process for enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose for bioethanol production using a combination of macro-reactor and micro-reactor results in significant increase in product (glucose and reducing sugar)yields by minimising the product inhibition.The said process comprises complete mixing in the macro-reactor till the optimal mixing time to let the convection scale dominate, following which the hydrolysis is switched to an array of unmixed micro-reactors to let the diffusion scale dominate.Compared to the conventional method of continuous mixing, this process increases glucose yield by 35%, 25%, 21% and 29% and reducing sugar yield by 29%, 16%, 19% and 19% for substrate loadings of 2%, 3%, 4% and 5%, respectively.In the present micro reactor based process, the glucose yield is increased by 22%, 14%, 23% and 27% and the reducing sugar yield is increased by 20%, 13%, 19% and 22% for the substrate loadings of 2%, 3%, 4% and 5%, respectively, over the mixing and no mixing in the same macro-reactor without involvement of the micro reactor. The process is also energy efficient, leading to a drastic reduction in the energy cost of mixing.