Scale-up of hydrothermal processing: Liquid hot water and pilot-scale tubular steam explosion batch reactor for bioethanol production using macroalgae Sargassum spp biomass

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2023-02, Vol.369, p.128448-128448, Article 128448
• Main Authors: González-Gloria, K.D., Rodríguez-Jasso, Rosa M., Rosero‑Chasoy, Gilver, Shiva, Kostas, Emily T., Aparicio, E., Sanchez, Arturo, López‑Sandin, Iosvany, Ruiz, Héctor A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biofuels; Biomass; Biorefinery; Enzymes; Ethanol; Fermentation; High-Pressure Technology; Hydrolysis; Sargassum; Seaweed; Steam; Water
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.128448

•Hydrothermal process is an effective fractionation process for Sargassum.•Pretreated Sargassum was subjected to cellulases and hemicelluloses enzymes.•Stirred tank and bubble column bioreactor were performed for PSSF and SSF. Sargassum spp. is a biomass that can potentially use as an alternative for bioethanol production. Hydrothermal processes (liquid hot water and steam explosion pretreatment) were carried out at different operational conditions. Enzymatic hydrolysis performed a preliminary test with different ratios 1:1 and 1:2 (cellulases and hemicellulases) of enzyme loading, once selected 1:2 ratio was obtained conversion yield of 99.91% and therefore carried a scale-up in stirred bioreactor getting 95.92% saccharification yield. Pre-simultaneous saccharification and fermentation strategy was performed in a continuous stirred tank bioreactor (CSTBR), producing ethanol yield of 57.69%, and for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation strategy was performed in a bubble column reactor was 71.37% ethanol yield. The energy efficiency was analyzed in different scenarios; the best data was 30.19 (gsugar/MJ) in the bioreactor enzymatic hydrolysis process. This development allows for establishing the conditions for a third-generation biorefinery on a circular bioeconomy using Sargassum biomass.