PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ETHANOL

摘要

A process for producing ethanol from a vegetable material comprises subjecting the vegetable material to an enzymatic treatment with a mixture of enzymes which is capable of saccharifying the vegetable material and converting the sugars so produced to ethanol. The enzymes used include enzymes capable of degrading cellulose, hemicellulose and starches. The conversion of the sugars produced in the saccharifying step to ethanol is carried out in the presence of a mixture of yeasts selected from the genera Candida, Kluyveromyces, Pischia and Saccharomyces. The entire process is carried out in a single reaction vessel and typically takes less than 3 hours to proceed from the raw material (untreated straw, grain, etc.) to a distilled ethanol product. The yield of ethanol can be increased by adding an enriched glucose solution to the reaction mixture.