Economic analysis of fuel ethanol production from corn starch using fluidized-bed bioreactors

The economics of fuel ethanol production from dry-milled corn starch were studied in fluidized-bed bioreactors (FBRs) using immobilized biocatalysts. Glucoamylase immobilized on porous diatomaceous earth was used for hydrolysis of the starch to glucose in a packed-bed reactor. The fermentation of glucose to ethanol was carried out in FBRs using Zymomonas mobilis immobilized in κ-carageenan beads. Volumetric ethanol productivities of up to 24 g/l h were achieved in non-optimized laboratory-scale systems. For a 15 million gal/yr ethanol plant, an economic analysis of this process was performed with Aspen Plus (Aspen Technology, Cambridge, MA) process simulation software. The analysis shows that an operating cost savings in the range of 1.1–3.1 cents/gal can be realized by using the FBR technology.