Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Applications
Open Access

The development of a bio refining strategy to convert municipal solid waste into bioethanol

International Congress and Expo on Biofuels & Bioenergy

August 25- 27, 2015 Valencia, Spain

Jwan Abdullah Al- Dabbagh1,2, Gregory A. Tucker1 and Chenyu Du1

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Fundam Renewable Energy Appl

Abstract :

Municipal solid waste (MSW) contains high concentration of organic matters, which has been widely used for biogas
production via anaerobic digestion. However, MSW also contains significant amount of lignicellulose, which is resistant
to anaerobic digestion. In this project, we explored the possibility of converting the lignocellulosic components of MSW into
bioethanol. In this first step, microwave, dilute acid, concentrate acid and alkali hydrolyses of MSW were assessed to identify
a suitable condition to release fermentable sugars from MSW. The monomeric sugar compositions of the hydrolysate were
determined together with the inhibitor concentrations. Phenotypic microarray analysis was used to identify a suitable yeast
strain for the utilisation of MSW hydrolysate. Then yeast fermentations were carried out to examine the bioethanol production.
The results revealed that the hydrolysate resulted from 30% sulphuric acid treatment led to the highest monomeric fermentable
sugars, but a lower ethanol conversion yield (around 25%). In comparison, hydrolysis using 2% sulphuric acid led to a lower
sugar release yield in the hydrolysate, but a higher ethanol conversion yield (around 47%).