Improving of bioethanol production from products of sugar beet processing

The subject of this project will be the optimization of bioethanol production from sugar beet processing products (extracted sugar beet shreds, raw, thin and thick juice) as renewable energy resources. The particular importance of applying such technologically enhanced production of bioethanol as biofuel, is reflected in: the application of the concept of “cleaner production” and more efficient exploitation of by-products in the existing sugar factories; the environmental protection as a consequence of reduced emission of polluting gasses when combusting bioethanol. The research would include: the techno-economic analysis of raw material base and existing capacities for sugar beet processing in Serbia; the characterization of sugar beet processing products as feedstock for bioethanol production; the optimization of sugar beet shreds saccharification process; the optimization of the production process which includes a two-stage process of saccharification and fermentation, as well as the process of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation; the bioethanol separation; mathematical modeling and bioprocess optimization, as well as simulations of combined sugar and bioethanol production from sugar beet. The aim of this project is to reduce the cost of bioethanol production from sugar beet, so that this technology can be commercially available to the factories in Serbia, especially to the sugar factories as is it a trend in European factories.