Modeling as a Tool for Controling the Production of Biofuels: Ethanol from a Biomass

In recent years, the new trend is towards bio-fuel. One of these biofuels is ethanol (ethyl alcohol), which could be produced economically by the controlled fermentation of biomasses. The results of the alcoholic fermentation of beet sugar molasses and wheat milling residues (Akalona) were fed into a computer program. The kinetic parameters for these fermentation reactions were determined. These parameters were put into a kinetic model. Next, the model was tested, and the results obtained were compared with the experimental results of both beet molasses and Akalona. The deviation of the experimental results from the results obtained from the model was determined. An acceptable deviation of 1.2% for beet sugar molasses and 3.69% for Akalona was obtained. Thus, the present model could be a tool for chemical engineers working in fermentation processes both with respect to the control of the process and the design of the fermenter.