Abstract
At this moment, when the development of clean and renewable energetic matrices is strategic, hydrolytic enzymes are in the spotlight due to their capacity of hydrolyzing lignocellulosic materials, wastes from agro-industry, aiming to second generation ethanol production. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) is a biotechnological alternative environmentally and economically feasible for such enzymes production. In this context, and considering the lack of commercial equipments for SSF processes, the purpose of the current project is to develop and scale-up a packed-bed bioreactor, aiming fibrolytic enzymes production by fungi thermophilic Myceliophthora thermophila I-1D3b and mesophilic Trichoderma reesei QM9414, cultivated on a moist mixture of sugarcane bagasse and wheat bran (7:3 and 9:1 w/w, respectively). The project comprises modeling and simulation, as well as experiments in packed-bed bioreactors with several sizes and operational conditions. The equipment will be instrumented with thermocouples, gases analyzers and relative moisture sensors, allowing monitoring and automatically control the process. At the closure of this project, it is expected to produce a low-cost, simple and versatile equipment, whose technical capacity will call the attention of industries. Therefore, the bioreactor will be possibly patentable and will have strong potential for application in biorefineries, as well as to other microorganisms, substrates and bioproducts. (AU)
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