Title
Bioethanol production from dry Ulva lactuca algae by alcoholic fermentation
Authors
DOINITA R. CIOROIU TÎRPAN CLAUDIA I. KONCSAG ALINA. G. CIUFU OANA. C. PÂRVULESCU and TANASE DOBRE

Received November 30, 2018
Published Volume 53 Issue 3-4 March-April
Keywords Ulva lactuca, cellulase, enzymatic hydrolysis, alcoholic fermentation

Abstract
This study focuses on alcoholic Sacharomyces cerevisiae yeast fermentation of suspensions from Ulva lactuca sp. powder, after the enzymatic hydrolysis of polysaccharides with Aspergillus niger cellulase. Bioethanol production from algae is a complex process, depending mainly on the content of fermentable sugars in the raw material. The drying process is an important step in treating fresh algae harvested from the sea, in order to prevent algae gelling. In order to investigate the effect of process factors, a 24 factorial experiment was designed. The effect of the following factors was studied: solid to liquid ratio (S = 1/12 and 1/24), cellulase ratio (U = 8 and 16 U/g d.m.), alcoholic fermentation temperature (t = 25 and 35 °C) and mean particle diameter (M = 304 and 1279 µm). The mathematical model predicting the yield of volatile compounds (V) and ethanol (E) in g/g d.m. was obtained by regression.