Karan Kumar

Cellulosic Biofuel Using Sugarcane Molasses & Recovery of Antioxidants

Sugarcane is one of the most important crops in the tropical regions of the world, especially India and southern China. Sugarcane Bagasse (SCB) and molasses are by products of sugarcane. Sugarcane bagasse is a promising lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol production. They are rich in carbohydrates and hence can provide fermentable sugars for the production of ethanol.

Bioethanol can emerge as a remarkable type of biofuel and can potentially fully replace gasoline. Lignocellulosic biomass is regarded as a potential material for the production of cellulosic ethanol due to its relatively low cost and because it prevents the diversion of food crops to the production of bioethanol. However, some limitations such as high enzyme costs and lower ethanol titers and yeilds pose hindrance to the development of bioethanol. Currently, several methods have been proposed for the integration of grains or sugar juice to enhance the initial sugar concentration and improve the subsequent ethanol production

Sugarcane bagasse has the required features to avoid feedstock handling as it is easy to collect and can be used directly in the sugar mill bypassing the transportation costs. High cellulose content of SCB makes it an attractive substrate for ethanol production to be used in the biomethanation plant. Molasses, which contain high amounts of fermentable sugars, is the non crystallizable residue left after sugar from cane juice crystallizes. They find their application in alcohol distillieries where they are used without the steps of pretreatment and saccharification. Since SCB and molasses are produced at the same time in sugar production, co-fermentation of SCB and molasses as complementary materials would achieve the comprehensive economic benefits of sugarcane/sugar industry and gain higher resource utilization. The SCB undergoes pre-treatment to effectively remove lignin and hemicellulose, disrupt the cellulose crystallinity, and increase the porosity of the biomass. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) helps to rapidly convert sugars into ethanol as soon as the saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass begins.

Recovery of antioxidants from sugarcane molasses distillery wastewater

Antioxidants present in sugarcane molasses distillery wastewater are not easily biodegradable. However, these compounds have properties which make them an important ingredient in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. These compounds can be recovered by distillation from wastewater treatment plants, and lead to products of commercial interest. There are 3 main processes to recover antioxidants from distillery wastewater by using Ultrafiltration equipment, adsorption-desorption and solvent extraction.

Molasses provide a good environment for the growth of yeast and inoculum. Integrating sugarcane molasses into sequential cellulosic biofuel production could improve the utilization of biomass resources.

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