(513k) Effect Of Ionic Liquid Pretreatment On Fermentation

Ionic liquids have been demonstrated to dissolve bio polymers and polysaccharides and use of ionic liquids as effective solvents for cellulose hydrolysis was proposed due to their unique solvating properties and non corrosive nature [1, 2]. This concept was extended for pretreatment of lignocellulosic substrates like corn stover and poplar to give theoretical yields of glucan after enzymatic hydrolysis. Different pretreatment techniques generate product streams which behave differently in the downstream processes. The fermentation of the hydrolysate obtained from any pretreatment processes is directly affected by the generation of fermentation inhibitors which are process specific. Also there might be an effect of the potential presence of residual solvent (Ionic liquid) in the hydrolysates. This work primarily focuses on the effect that the ionic liquid pretreatment step will have on the fermentation of biomass with different ethanologenic yeasts like Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and, Pichia stipitis. Also optimization of the fermentation process with regards to the Separate hydrolysis and Fermentation (SHF) as well as Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) will be studied.

1.Anantharam P Dadi, Sasidhar. Varanasi, and Constance .A. Schall,, Enhancement of cellulose saccharification kinetics using an ionic liquid pretreatment step. Biotechnol. and Bioengg, 95 (5) 2006 904-910. 2.Anantharam P Dadi, Sasidhar. Varanasi, and Constance .A. Schall,, Mitigation of cellulose recalcitrance to Enzymatic hydrolysis by ionic liquid pretreatment. Applied Biotechnol. and Bioengg, 136-140 2007 407-421.