Effect of ammonium carbonate pretreatment on the enzymatic digestibility, structural characteristics of rice husk and bioethanol production via simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process with Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hansen 2055

In order to reduce the CO2 produced from the combustion of fossil fuel, bioethanol produced from biomass can serve as an alternative fuel. Rice husk, known as a widely available lignocellulosic biomass and one of the most prominent agricultural residues would be a suitable alternative. For producing bioethanol and improving enzymatic hydrolysis, this study successfully pretreated rice husk using ammonium carbonate solution. The maximum glucan digestibility yield of the pretreated rice husk was 67.7% and 65.7% respectively, with 20% and 25% ammonium carbonate solution with 10 FPU/g glucan loading of a commercial cellulase enzyme for 72 h 10.61 g/L ethanol concentration was achieved from 20% ammonium carbonate pretreated rice husk in the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process under anaerobic condition at 37 °C with Saccharomyces cerevisiae for 3 days.