Journal of Bioengineering & Biomedical Science

Optimization Of Ethanol Production From Cheese Whey Fermentation In A Batch-Airlift Bioreactor

Abstract

H. Ghanadzadeh Gilani and Ghorbanpour

In this work, Kluyveromyces fragilis yeast was used for bio-ethanol production from cheese-whey in batch fermentation. The present study consisted of two steps: The first was a central composite design (CCD) for evaluating of important factors including: pH, initial lactose concentration (L), yeast cells concentrations (Y) and temperature (T). In order to optimize the fermentation process, response surface methodology (RSM) was used in this stage. The best operating conditions were found to be pH = 5.3, L = 41.8 g/l, Y = 0.57 g/l and T= 30.8°C. The second step was to determine the effect of aeration rate on the fermentation process in an airlift bioreactor. The best conditions were the aeration rate of 0.4 vvm with 89.28% of ethanol production yield. In this research, the concentrated cheese whey was also used for obtaining a bio-ethanol fermentation product.