Hydrolysis and fermentation process for producing bioethanol

摘要

A method for processing the thin stillage stream resulting from a bioethanol production process comprises; firstly, partial hydrolysis of the thin stillage stream resulting from the bioethanol production process in order to convert non starch polysaccharides to soluble oligomers and monomers; secondly, fermentation of the soluble oligomers and monomers in the partially hydrolysed thin stillage to produce ethanol and, thirdly, recycling of the product stream resulting from the first and second steps to the front end of the bioethanol production process such that the ethanol produced during fermentation is recovered as part of a bioethanol recovery process in the bioethanol production process. The fermentation step may be carried out by thermophilic bacteria, such as Geobacillus spp. Apparatus for processing the thin stillage stream resulting from a bioethanol production process and an animal feed product produced by the aforementioned method are also claimed.