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High Productivity Ethanol from Solid-State Fermentation of Steam-Exploded Corn Stover Using Zymomonas mobilis by N2 Periodic Pulsation Process Intensification

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Abstract

Solid-state fermentation, featured by water-saving, eco-friendly and high concentration product, is a promising technology in lignocellulosic ethanol industry. However, in solid-state fermentation system, large gas content inside the substrate directly leads to high oxygen partial pressure and inhibits ethanol fermentation. Z. mobilis can produce ethanol from glucose near the theoretical maximum value, but this ethanol yield would be greatly decreased by high oxygen partial pressure during solid-state fermentation. In this study, we applied N2 periodic pulsation process intensification (NPPPI) to ethanol solid-state fermentation, which displaced air with N2 and provided a proper anaerobic environment for Z. mobilis. Based on the water state distribution, the promotion effects of NPPPI on low solid loading and solid-state fermentation were analyzed to confirm the different degrees of oxygen inhibition in ethanol solid-state fermentation. During the simultaneous saccharification solid-state fermentation, the NPPPI group achieved 45.29% ethanol yield improvement and 30.38% concentration improvement compared with the control group. NPPPI also effectively decreased 58.47% of glycerol and 84.24% of acetic acid production and increased the biomass of Z. mobilis. By coupling the peristaltic enzymatic hydrolysis and fed-batch culture, NPPPI made the ethanol yield and concentration reach 80.11% and 55.06 g/L, respectively, in solid-state fermentation.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No.2018YFB1501702) and the Transformational Technologies for Clean Energy and Demonstration (Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No.XDA 21060300).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Biomass Refining Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, People’s Republic of China

    Lele Sun, Lan Wang & Hongzhang Chen

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, People’s Republic of China

    Lele Sun

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  1. Lele Sun
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Correspondence to Lan Wang.

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Sun, L., Wang, L. & Chen, H. High Productivity Ethanol from Solid-State Fermentation of Steam-Exploded Corn Stover Using Zymomonas mobilis by N2 Periodic Pulsation Process Intensification. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 192, 466–481 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-020-03318-6

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