Use of treated effluent water in cellulosic ethanol production

The bioethanol industry exerts a significant demand on water supplies. Current water consumption rate in corn dry grind ethanol plants is 3 to 4 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol produced (gal/gal) and 6 to 10 gal/gal for cellulosic ethanol plants. The main goal of this study was to examine the use of treated wastewater effluent in place of potable freshwater for cellulosic ethanol production. The effects of using two different types of filtered treated effluent; Bloomington- Normal, IL (Residential type) and Decatur, IL (Industrial/Residential Mix type); on the rate of fermentation and final ethanol yield from a pure cellulosic substrate were evaluated. Final ethanol concentration with Bloomington- Normal and Decatur effluent and our control study using de-ionized water were similar, resulting in 4.57 ± 0.22 % v/v (0.36 g/g, db), 4.74 ± 0.13 % v/v (0.37 g/g, db) and 4.55 ± 0.28 % v/v (0.36 g/g, db), respectively. Residual glucose concentrations were