Ethanol fermentation coupled with complete cell recycle pervaporation system: Dependence of glucose concentration

A membrane bioreactor system comprised of a fermenter and a flat pervaporation module was developed for continuous ethanol fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In order to obtain the guidelines for high sugar concentration fermentation, the dependence of glucose concentration on the coupled system was investigated. Fed by 158 and 290g glucose/l, the improvement in productivity was obtained with 1. 58 and 1. 86 times, and the ethanol yield was 0. 45 and 0. 395, respectively. With the fermentation proceeding, the permeate flux decreased but the selectivity kept unaltered.