Laboratory Experiment in Biochemical Engineering: Ethanol Fermentation
Abstract
Bench-scale kit for teaching purposes composed of three fermentors has been constructed and used to obtain data for the evaluation of kinetic parameters in ethanol fermentation process. Devices for the measurement of CO2 volume evolved during the process have been adapted to the fermentors in order to evaluate the ethanol concentration in the broth. Short batch experiments were carried out using commercial baker's yeast and glucose as main substrate. Experimental results were analyzed based on two classical models, enabling the determination of traditional kinetic parameters.