Effect of acid hydrolysis and fungal biotreatment on agro-industrial wastes for obtainment of free sugars for bioethanol production

This study was designed to evaluate selected chemical and microbiological treatments for the conversion of certain local agro-industrial wastes (rice straw, corn stalks, sawdust, sugar beet waste and sugarcane bagasse) to ethanol. The chemical composition of these feedstocks was determined. Conversion of wastes to free sugars by acid hydrolysis varied from one treatment to another. In single-stage dilute acid hydrolysis, increasing acid concentration from 1 % (v/v) to 5 % (v/v) decreased the conversion percentage of almost all treated agro-industrial wastes. Lower conversion percentages for some treatments were obtained when increasing the residence time from 90 to 120 min. The two-stage dilute acid hydrolysis by phosphoric acid (1.0 % v/v) followed by sulphuric acid (1.0 % v/v) resulted in the highest conversion percentage (41.3 % w/w) on treated sugar beet waste. This treatment when neutralized, amended with some nutrients and inoculated with baker’s yeast, achieved the highest ethanol concentration (1.0 % v/v). Formation of furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) were functions of type of acid hydrolysis, acid concentration, residence time and feedstock type. The highest bioconversion of 5 % wastes (37.8 % w/w) was recorded on sugar beet waste by Trichoderma viride EMCC 107. This treatment when followed by baker’s yeast fermentation, 0.41 % (v/v) ethanol and 8.2 % (v/w) conversion coefficient were obtained.