A continuous, farm-scale, solid-phase fermentation process for fuel ethanol and protein feed production from fodder...

Fuel ethanol (95%) was produced from fodder beets in two farm-scale processes. In the first process, involving conventional submerged fermentation of the fodder beets in a mash, ethanol and a feed (PF) rich in protein, fat, and fiber were produced. Ethanol yields of 70 L/metric ton (7 gal/ton) were obtained; however, resulting beers had low ethanol concentrations [3-5% (v/v)]. The high viscosity of medium and low sugar, beet mashes caused mixing problems which prevented any further increase of beet sugar in the mash. The severely limited the maximum attainable ethanol concentration during fermentation, thereby making the beer costly to distill into fuel ethanol and the process energy inefficient. In order to achieve distillably worthwhile ethanol concentrations of 8-10% (v/v), we developed and tested a solid-phase fermentation process (continuous). In preliminary trials, this system produced fermented pulp with over 8% (v/v) ethanol corresponding to an ethanol yield of 87 L/metric ton (21 gal/ton). Production costs with this novel process are $0.47/L ($1.77/gal) and the energy balance is 2.11. These preliminary cost estimates indicate that fodder beets are potentially competitive with corn as an ethanol feedstock. Additional research, however, is warranted to more precisely refine individual costs, energy balances and the actual value of the PF.