Production of Bioethanol from Agricultural Wastes Using Residual Thermal Energy of a Cogeneration Plant in the Distillation Phase

Abstract

Alcoholic fermentations were performed, adapting the technology to exploit the residual thermal energy (hot water at 83–85 °C) of a cogeneration plant and to valorize agricultural wastes. Substrates were apple, kiwifruit, and peaches wastes; and corn threshing residue (CTR). Saccharomyces bayanus was chosen as starter yeast. The fruits, fresh or blanched, were mashed; CTR was gelatinized and liquefied by adding Liquozyme® SC DS (Novozymes, Dittingen, Switzerland); saccharification simultaneous to fermentation was carried out using the enzyme Spirizyme® Ultra (Novozymes, Dittingen, Switzerland). Lab-scale static fermentations were carried out at 28 °C and 35 °C, using raw fruits, blanched fruits and CTR, monitoring the ethanol production. The highest ethanol production was reached with CTR (10.22% (v/v) and among fruits with apple (8.71% (v/v)). Distillations at low temperatures and under vacuum, to exploit warm water from a cogeneration plant, were tested. Vacuum simple batch distillation by rotary evaporation at lab scale at 80 °C (heating bath) and 200 mbar or 400 mbar allowed to recover 93.35% (v/v) and 89.59% (v/v) of ethanol, respectively. These results support a fermentation process coupled to a cogeneration plant, fed with apple wastes and with CTR when apple wastes are not available, where hot water from cogeneration plant is used in blanching and distillation phases. The scale up in a pilot plant was also carried out.