Water reclamation and value-added animal feed from corn-ethanol stillage by fungal processing

•Innovative water reclamation, energy savings and additional coproducts.•Removes recycling inhibitors, i.e. lactic/acetic acid, glycerol, suspended solids.•Fungal biomass has high protein, valuable amino acids suitable for non-ruminants.•Fungal biomass could also potentially be raw material for chit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioresource technology 2014-01, Vol.151, p.284-290
Main Authors: Rasmussen, M.L., Khanal, S.K., Pometto, A.L., van Leeuwen, J. (Hans)
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetic Acid - metabolism
Amino Acids - metabolism
Animal Feed
Biological and medical sciences
Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis
Biomass
Corn
Ethanol
Ethanol - chemistry
Ethyl alcohol
Evaporation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Fungal process
Fungal Proteins - metabolism
Fungi
Glycerol - isolation & purification
Inoculation
Lactic Acid - metabolism
Oils
Organic Chemicals - isolation & purification
Oxygen - analysis
Plants (organisms)
Rhizopus - growth & development
Rhizopus - metabolism
Rhizopus oligosporus
Solubility
Stillage
Thin stillage
Water - chemistry
Water reuse
Zea mays - chemistry
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Summary:•Innovative water reclamation, energy savings and additional coproducts.•Removes recycling inhibitors, i.e. lactic/acetic acid, glycerol, suspended solids.•Fungal biomass has high protein, valuable amino acids suitable for non-ruminants.•Fungal biomass could also potentially be raw material for chitin and chitosan.•Fungal cultivation on thin stillage could make ethanol production more sustainable. Rhizopus oligosporus was cultivated on thin stillage from a dry-grind corn ethanol plant. The aim of the research was to develop a process to replace the current energy-intensive flash evaporation and make use of this nutrient-rich stream to create a new co-product in the form of protein-rich biomass. Batch experiments in 5- and 50-L stirred bioreactors showed prolific fungal growth under non-sterile conditions. COD, suspended solids, glycerol, and organic acids removals, critical for in-plant water reuse, reached ca. 80%, 98%, 100% and 100%, respectively, within 5d of fungal inoculation, enabling effluent recycle as process water. R. oligosporus contains 2% lysine, good levels of other essential amino acids, and 43% crude protein – a highly nutritious livestock feed. Avoiding water evaporation from thin stillage would furthermore save substantial energy inputs on corn ethanol plants.
ISSN:0960-8524
1873-2976
DOI:10.1016/j.biortech.2013.10.080