Biological Conversion of Cellulosic

Biomass to Ethanol
 Bioconversion, (biotransformation ) is the use of
live organisms often microorganisms to carry out a
chemical reaction . These organisms converts a
substance to a chemically modified form.

 Example is the conversion of organic materials,

such as food waste, plant or animal waste, into
usable products or energy sources by biological
processes or agents, such as certain
microorganisms or the use of enzymes.

 Example:- Cellulosic waste from municipalities to

ethanol.
 Petroleum is very expensive and valuable.
 It provides gas for our cars and other uses of
energy. Yet , it is a non-renewable resource.
 Cellulosic are abundant, inexpensive, and
sustainable, and it can easily obtain from the
agricultural waste and municipalities.
 Ethanol is an sustainable product that can be
used as an alternative fuel and it can also be the
answer for our municipal solid waste problems.
(MSW).
 Bioethanol conversion is one of the solution
towards the 0% emission of waste.
 Municipal solid waste (MSW) is an attractive
cellulosic resource for sustainable production of
transportation fuels and chemicals because of its
abundance.

 Besides than plastic and glasses, most waste from

the municipalities in Putrajaya is organic and
known to be cellulosic-rich. (applicable and
suitable for bioconversion)

 Can provide a year round supply for ethanol

production with zero to negative feedstock cost.
 1) final alternative daily cover (ADC
Final)
 2) ADC Green waste
 3) woody waste
 4) grass waste
 5) cardboard
 6) mixed paper.
 Separation need to be done at source or the
MRF to split recyclable waste and cellulosic
waste for bioethanol production.

 A wide space need to be choose to build a

bioreactor for production of ethanol using
application of bio-conversion.

 To isolate species of bacteria that is capable of

direct conversion of a cellulose substrate into
ethanol. One example is Clostridium
thermocellum, (uses a complex cellulosome to
break down cellulose and synthesize ethanol.)
 There are several stages in ethanol production
using a biological approach:
• A "pretreatment" phase, to make the lignocellulosic
material such as wood or straw amenable to
hydrolysis,
• Cellulose hydrolysis (cellulolysis), to break down
the molecules into sugars
• Separation of the sugar solution from the residual
materials, notably lignin.
• Microbial fermentation of the sugar solution.
• Distillation to produce roughly 95% pure alcohol.
• Dehydration by molecular sieves to bring the
ethanol concentration to over 99.5%
 Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis Process
 Dilute Acid Hydrolysis
 Enzymatic Hydrolysis
 Wet Milling Processes
 Dry Milling Process
 Sugar Fermentation Process
 Fractional Distillation Process
 The vessel's environmental conditions like
gas (i.e., air, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon
dioxide) flowrates, temperature, pH and
dissolved oxygen levels, and agitation
speed need to be closely monitored and
controlled in order to get optimum
production.

 A heat exchanger is needed to maintain the

bioprocess at a constant temperature.
(external jacket).
 The function of aerator and agitation
system is to provide good aeration for
microbial activity to happen and
homogenize the system.

 Feeding pump is used to feed the system

with carbon sources and biomass
including the enzyme, microorganism to
the system.
 3-6 knowledgeable and competent engineers
and researchers are needed to maintain the
production process, and system.

 A continuous research (R&D) must be done to

isolate better and good microorganisms that can
produce ethanol in high yields and good
quality.

 Environmental engineer is needed in order to

monitor the reactor and environmental impact
of the production to the environment and
citizens.
 Process of building an industry of turning
cellulose-containing organic matter into fuel.
 Cellulosic ethanol has the potential to become a
competitive energy resource.
 Ethanol is use as a transportation fuel and can
be substitute for gasoline and diesel.
 Estimated prices for a litre of ethanol are $0.51
for 1g and $0.71 for 2g.
 It is estimated that each person in the city throws away
4.4 lb (2.0 kg) of trash each day, of which 37% contains
waste paper which is largely cellulose.
 Each year, it is estimated that 323 million tons of
cellulose containing raw materials that could be used to
create ethanol are thrown away.
 This includes 36.8 million dry tons of urban wood
wastes, 90.5 million dry tons of grass waste, 45 million
dry tons of forest residues, and 150.7 million dry tons
of mixed paper (cardbord).
 Transforming them into ethanol using efficient and cost
effective hemi(cellulase) enzymes or other processes
will provide as much as 30% of the current fuel
consumption.
1. Firstly, it is renewable and a sustainable resource.
Petroleum is very expensive ,valuable and non-
renewable reources.
2. Ethanol is an sustainable product that can be used
as an alternative fuel and it can also be the answer
for our municipal solid waste problems. (MSW).
3. Cellulosic are abundant, inexpensive, and
sustainable, and it can easily obtain from the
agricultural waste and municipalities.
4. Interestingly, existing cars can run on 10 percent
ethanol with no modifications.
5. Cellulosic ethanol doesn’t produce any emissions
and drastically reduces the carbon- dioxide
emissions.
 Bio-conversion treatment costs usually falls
into this categories:
 Capital cost
 Operating cost
 Maintanance cost
 Manpower cost
• Our company are building refineries that can
process biomass and turn it into ethanol,
and also producing enzymes which could
enable a cellulosic ethanol future.
• Construction of pilot scale lignocellulosic
ethanol plants requires considerable financial
support through grants and subsidies.
• Our company obtain financial support from
government subsidies, private company and by
cellulosic ethanol commercialization.
• Capital costs for this alternative treatment
facilities range from RM530,0000 to
RM960,0000 per capacity.
 Paper, cardboard, and packaging comprise a
substantial part of the solid waste sent to landfills each
day which is 41.26% of all organic municipal solid
waste (MSW).
 These city profiles account for accumulation of
555.5 ton daily per landfill .
 All these organic waste contain cellulose which is
transformable into cellulosic ethanol.
 This may have additional cost benefits because it will
minimize the total volume of waste being sent to
landfill.
 Reduction of the disposal of solid waste through
cellulosic ethanol conversion would reduce solid
waste disposal costs. Thus, the life-span of the
landfill can be extend longer.
Thank you