Conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol by the SSF process. (III). Conversion of the Chinese white poplar material being pretreated with steam explosion to ethanol by SSF

The Chinese poplar (Populus tomentosa) wood powder pretreated by steam explosion is fermented to ethanol by batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) through the orthogonal design. The paper is meant to find the optimal condition under which the fermentation process does. The best combination of factors (reaction temperature, solution pH value, loading of both Saccharomyces cererisiae AS2.1 and Trichoderma viride AS3.3032 cellulase) affecting the conversion of pretreated poplar wood powder to ethanol is found. The results are: (1) The SSF system raised ethanol conversion rate up to 86%, 1.6 times more than that of the separate saccharification fermentation (SHF); (2) The best combination of factors affecting conversion is 36 °C, pH 5.0, cellulase 25 U/g cellulosic biomass and Saccharomyces cererisiae AS2.1 (wet weight) 0.01 g/mL fermentation liquid.