Skip to main content
Presentation
Ultrasonic Enhanced Liquefaction and Saccharification of Corn for Bio-Fuel Production
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Conference Proceedings and Presentations
  • Samir Kumar Khanal, Iowa State University
  • Melissa T. Montalbo, Iowa State University
  • Johannes van Leeuwen, Iowa State University
  • Gowrishankar Srinivasan, Iowa State University
  • David A. Grewell, Iowa State University
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Conference
2007 ASABE Annual International Meeting
Publication Date
6-1-2007
Geolocation
(44.983334, -93.26667)
Abstract

Dry grind corn milling does not reach full efficiency of starch conversion to sugars and subsequently to ethanol because of limitations in the milling process. This paper examines the use of high-power ultrasonics to enhance the release of fermentable sugars from milled dry corn. In this work, 20 kHz ultrasonic energy was used to pretreat corn mash prior to enzymatic conversion of corn starch to glucose in a batch-mode. The ultrasonic amplitude was varied from 0, 191 to 320 µm pp . The corn mash was sonicated for 0 (control), 20 and 40 seconds. Other experimental variables that were studied included the effect of temperature and pretreatment sequencing, e.g., ultrasonic pretreatment before and after enzyme addition. It was found that the reaction rate kinetics of the enzymatic reactions increased threefold for sonicated samples. Energy balance (efficiency) analysis indicated that ultrasound pretreatment released twice as much energy (as sugar) when introduced during pretreatment. Based on scanning electron microscopy examination and particle size analysis, the enhancement of the conversion was primarily attributed to particle size reduction, resulting in an increase in the surface area to volume ratio, which in turn increased the available enzymatic reaction sites. One of the most striking findings was that enzymes were not degraded by low level ultrasonication. In addition, the most significant increase in sugar yield was seen when the enzymes were added before ultrasonic pretreatment. Ultrasound has the potential to enhance the ethanol yield from cornstarch and reduce the production cost significantly in commercial dry corn milling ethanol plants.

Comments

This is an ASABE Meeting Presentation, Paper No. 072710.

Copyright Owner
American Society of Agricultural Engineers
Language
en
Citation Information
Samir Kumar Khanal, Melissa T. Montalbo, Johannes van Leeuwen, Gowrishankar Srinivasan, et al.. "Ultrasonic Enhanced Liquefaction and Saccharification of Corn for Bio-Fuel Production" Minneapolis, MN(2007)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/gowrishankar_srinivasan/4/