The operable modeling of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of ethanol production from cellulose

An operable batch model of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) for ethanol production from cellulose has been developed. The model includes four ordinary differential equations that describe the changes of cellobiose, glucose, yeast, and ethanol concentrations with respect to time. These equations were used to simulate the experimental data of the four main components in the SSF process of ethanol production from microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel PH101). The model parameters at 95% confidence intervals were determined by a MATLAB program based on the batch experimental data of the SSF. Both experimental data and model simulations showed that the cell growth was the rate-controlling step at the initial period in a series of reactions of cellulose to ethanol, and later, the conversion of cellulose to cellobiose controlled the process. The batch model was extended to the continuous and fed-batch operating models. For the continuous operation in the SSF, the ethanol productivities increased with increasing dilution rate, until a maximum value was attained, and rapidly decreased as the dilution rate approached the washout point. The model also predicted a relatively high ethanol mass for the fed-batch operation than the batch operation.