Production of high-starch duckweed and its conversion to bioethanol
2011
Xu, Jiele | Cui, Weihua | Cheng, Jay J. | Stomp, Anne-M.
Growing high-starch duckweed for its conversion to bioethanol was investigated as a novel technology to supplement maize-based ethanol production. Under the fall (autumn) climate conditions of North Carolina, the biomass accumulation rate of Spirodela polyrrhiza grown in a pilot-scale culture pond using diluted pig effluent was 12.4 g dry weight m⁻²Â day⁻¹. Through simple transfer of duckweed plants into well water for 10 days, the duckweed starch content increased by 64.9%, resulting in a high annual starch yield of 9.42 × 10³Â kg ha⁻¹. After enzymatic hydrolysis and yeast fermentation of high-starch duckweed biomass in a 14-l fermentor, 94.7% of the theoretical starch conversion was achieved. The ethanol yield of duckweed reached 6.42 × 10³Â l ha⁻¹, about 50% higher than that of maize-based ethanol production, which makes duckweed a competitive starch source for fuel ethanol production.
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