Converting woody biomass to bioethanol might be more affordable, environmentally friendly, and efficient for making biofuel commercially feasible, but it would still need a significant optimization process and expand pilot-scale research. A combination of commercial low enzymes loading at 10 FPU/g glucan and compound additives utilizing Tween 80, PEG8000 and sophorolipid applied from lab-scale to pilot-scale have been studied in this work at economically viable dosages for enhancing bioethanol production. In lab-scale saccharification and fermentation, pretreated poplar at a high solid loading of 20% yielded the highest ethanol titers of 30.96 g/L and theoretical ethanol yield of 92.79%. Additionally, pilot-scale operation was used to investigate the bioethanol amplification, a final volume of 33 m3 which yielded the greatest ethanol amount of 599.6 kg from poplar wood while gaining on-site value-added production of hemicellulosic and cellobiose liquor 1122 kg and lignin residues 2292 kg.
Keywords: Bioethanol; Cellulase enzyme cocktails; Combined surfactants; Pilot-scale operation; Saccharification and fermentation; Woody biomass.
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