Cellulosic ethanol from whole corn right here, right now.

Sabrina Trupia, Brian Schoeneck (NCERC), Tom Lyons (Biotork), Mike Cotta, Bruce Dien, Ron Hector, Loren Iten (USDA-ARS-NCAUR)
FEW 2013, St.Louis MO

NCERC Numbers

Established in 2003

Over 17,000 hours of continuous operation

150+ years of combined experience in biofuels research and training 90% self-funded

Advanced Biofuels Initiative

Enabling NCERC to pursue research projects in the advanced biofuels space

Service Capabilities

Pilot Testing:

4 x 6,000 gal fermentors Plug and play configuration Front-end dry-grind fractionation 30-150-1500 L sterilizable vessels Integrated with Pilot Plant and Lab Pretreatment capabilities

Fermentation Suite:

Laboratory

Fermentation: 0.1 to 5 L Fully equipped QA/QC lab

Why study corn kernel fiber?

Other Reasons

Cellulosic material is already at the ethanol plant The industrial infrastructure is already in place It increases the yields up to 5-10% per bushel of corn. It lowers the carbon footprint of existing ethanol plants.

New value-added co-products will become available

It benefits farmers, the existing ethanol industry, the environment, our energy security

Been there, done that

Corn Fiber Work at NCERC, largely in collaboration with USDA 2007-2008: Steam activation, characterization 2008-2009: Chemical pretreatment , characterization 2009-2010: Hot water pretreatment, viscosity and enzymatic hydrolysis tests

2011-2012: Corn fiber fermentations (1-150L)

2013: Cellulosic ethanol from corn mash

Current goals of scale up

Corn fiber corn mash progression

Optimizing the process

Pretreatment and hydrolysis Defining fermentation conditions Yeast Strain Selection/Evolution

Repeatability

The Yeast

Strain D5A YRH400 YRH400e

Xylose consumed (g/L) 0.9 1.4 1.5

Improvement (%) -56% 67%

Fermentation on Xylose Medium

Evolved Yeast Ethanol + 32 % Xylose - 11 % over non-evolved

Xylose conversion efficiency: 41% in 47 hours

Propagation of strains
6

evolved yeast non-evolved yeast

OD 600

Final concentration: 28 million viable cells/ml Final concentration: 14 million viable cells/ml

0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Time (hours)

Corn Fiber Flask Fermentation

D5A: 25.4 g/L YRH400: 26.5 g/L YRH400e: 26.6 g/L

Corn Fiber Scale Up : 30 L

Scale Up Results: 30 L

15 g/L ethanol produced with conventional yeast Ethanol Yield: 0.23 gal/bu ( +8% additional to starch)

Conversion efficiency: 97% (C6 sugars only, no xylose)

NEXT STEPS: 150 L / evolved yeast

Scale Up Results: 150 L

Fermentation completed after 48 hours At end of process, total sugars down by 65%

100% glucose consumed

72% xylose consumed

NEXT STEP: corn mash

Cellulosic Ethanol from Corn Mash

Unmodified S. Cerevisiae

Bench-scale tests
72 hours total process time (48 hour fermentation)

Ethanol concentration: 8% higher than control

Yield improved by about 14%

Corn Mash Scale Up

(5 L and 30 L)

Evolved modified yeast (YRH400e)

concentration (%w/v)

25

Fermentation completed in 48 hours At the end of fermentation:

Glucose Equivalents
20

Ethanol
15

97% of glucose (eq.) consumed 67% xylose consumed

10

Ethanol concentration: + 10%

0 0.00 20.00 40.00

Time (hours)

Results Summary

Demonstrated reproducible scale-up: 0.2 5 30 150 L

Achieved almost theoretical conversion of sugars in as low as 48 hours

Utilized both natural and modified S.Cerevisiae

Corn mash conversion consistent with corn fiber results of increased ethanol yield
Process under provisional patent

Acknowledgements

IL Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Illinois Corn Marketing Board A Specific Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Novozymes

THANK YOU!