Enzyme Cocktail Production Using Solid Residues
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high cost of cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic enzymes in the production of ethanol from lignocellulosic materials, coupled with the need for external carbon sources and the inefficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis, leads to significant enzyme costs and solid residues that require reprocessing.
Innovation Solution
A process utilizing solid residues from enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanolic fermentation of lignocellulosic materials as inducing carbon substrates for the production of an enzymatic cocktail, reducing the need for external carbon sources and valorizing these residues to lower enzyme production costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the quantity of enzymes is reduced to lower costs, then enzyme cost decreases, but the conversion of cellulose becomes incomplete and solid residue increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent recovers solid residue from enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation processes and reuses it as inducing substrate for enzyme production. This closes the material loop, allowing incomplete conversion residues to be valorized rather than discarded, directly addressing the contradiction between reducing enzyme quantity and minimizing solid residue loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The process uses the solid residue from the ethanol production process itself as the inducing substrate for enzyme production, making the system self-sufficient. The residue that would normally be waste or require reprocessing serves the dual purpose of enzyme induction and substrate for subsequent hydrolysis, eliminating the need for external carbon sources.
2Productivity
If external carbon sources are used for enzyme production, then enzyme production is maintained, but production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system produces its own inducing substrate by utilizing the solid residue generated during ethanol production. This eliminates dependency on external carbon sources such as lactose or glucose, making the enzyme production process self-sufficient and cost-effective while maintaining productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of discarding or reprocessing solid residue through combustion or methanization, the patent recovers and reuses it as the inducing substrate for enzyme production, eliminating the need to purchase external carbon sources while maintaining enzyme production levels.
3Use of energy by moving object
If solid residue is reprocessed by combustion or methanization, then energy is recovered, but additional processing steps and costs are incurred
Solution Approach 1:
The solid residue serves multiple functions: it acts as the inducing substrate for enzyme production and subsequently as the substrate for enzymatic hydrolysis in the next production cycle. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate energy recovery processes like combustion or methanization, reducing device complexity while maintaining energy efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The solid residue from the ethanol production process automatically serves as the inducing substrate for the next enzyme production batch, creating a self-sustaining cycle that eliminates additional reprocessing steps and reduces overall process complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces enzyme costs and minimizes effluent reprocessing, while producing an enzymatic cocktail suitable for lignocellulosic hydrolysis, even with refractory materials like poplar and miscanthus, by leveraging the inducing effect of lignin-rich residues.
Implementation Method 1
a) of growth of said microorganism in the presence of at least one carbonaceous growth substrate in a closed reactor, said growth phase being carried out with a concentration of carbonaceous growth substrate of between 10 and 90 g/L a phase b) of production of the enzymatic cocktail in which at least one inducing carbonaceous substrate is supplied, said inducing carbonaceous substrate being at least one solid residue resulting from the enzymatic hydrolysis step of lignocellulosic materials
Implementation Method 2
The pretreated material is hydrolyzed, either acidically or enzymatically with the use of cellulolytic and/or hemicellulolytic enzymes
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for producing an enzyme cocktail in a submerged culture with a cellulolytic microorganism, including two phases: a phase a) of growing said microorganism in the presence of at least one carbon growth substrate in a closed reactor, the concentration of said carbon growth substrate in said growing phase being between 10 and 90 g/L; and a phase b) for producing the enzyme cocktail in which at least one inducing carbon substrate is fed, said inducing carbon substrate being at least one solid residue from the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials having undergone a pretreatment step, the concentration of the carbon production substrate in said production phase being between 150 and 400 g/L.