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Fermentation
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Biofuels Production and Processing Technology, 3rd Edition
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Biofuels Production and Processing Technology, 3rd Edition

A special issue of Fermentation (ISSN 2311-5637). This special issue belongs to the section "Industrial Fermentation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 3973

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Alessia Tropea

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
Interests: fermentation process management; biofuel; biorefinery; value-added products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The negative global warming impact and global environmental pollution due to fossil fuels mean that the main challenge of modern society is finding alternatives to conventional fuels. In this scenario, biofuels derived from renewable biomass represent the most promising renewable energy sources. Depending on the biomass used by fermentation technologies, it is possible to obtain first-generation biofuels produced from food crops, second-generation biofuels produced from non-food feedstocks (mainly originating from renewable lignocellulosic biomasses), and third-generation biofuels (represented by algae or food waste biomass).

Although biofuels appear to be the closest alternative to fossil fuels, it is necessary for them to be produced in competitive quantities and costs, requiring both improvements to production technologies and diversification of feedstock.

This topic represents an interesting challenge for both the scientific and industrial world, and many efforts are still required in this field in order to reduce the negative global warming impact and global environmental pollution due to fossil fuels, in accordance with environmentally sustainable development.

This Special Issue will focus on the development of new technologies and the implementation of new feedstock suitable for biofuels production, as well as different biomass pretreatments, fermentation strategies, different applied microorganisms used as monoculture or coculture, and different setups for biofuel fermentation processes. Moreover, research on economic feasibility is also encouraged.

Therefore, I would like to invite authors to submit original innovative research articles and review papers related to the potential topics of the “Biofuels Production and Processing Technology, 3rd Edition” Special Issue. The previous two editions can be viewed at:

Biofuels Production and Processing Technology

Biofuels Production and Processing Technology: 2nd Edition

Dr. Alessia Tropea
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fermentation is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biofuel production technologies
  • downstream processing
  • upstream processing
  • biorefinery
  • energy
  • bioethanol production
  • agroforest and industrial waste feedstock valorization
  • microorganisms for biofuel
  • sustainability

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 2105 KiB  
Article
Co-Digestion and Mono-Digestion of Sewage Sludge and Steam-Pretreated Winter Wheat Straw in Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactors—Nutrient Composition and Process Performance
by Emma Kreuger, Virginia Tosi, Maja Lindblad and Åsa Davidsson
Fermentation 2024, 10(8), 414; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10080414 - 10 Aug 2024
Viewed by 457
Abstract
Wheat straw (WS) constitutes a considerable biomass resource and can be used to produce the energy carrier methane through anaerobic digestion. Due to the low contents of several nutrient elements and water in harvested WS, the use of sewage sludge (SS), consisting of [...] Read more.
Wheat straw (WS) constitutes a considerable biomass resource and can be used to produce the energy carrier methane through anaerobic digestion. Due to the low contents of several nutrient elements and water in harvested WS, the use of sewage sludge (SS), consisting of primary sludge and waste-activated sludge, as a nutrient source in co-digestion with steam-pretreated wheat straw (PWS) was investigated theoretically and practically. WS was steam-pretreated, with acetic acid as the catalyst, at 190 °C for 10 min, ending with a rapid reduction in pressure. Process stability and specific methane production were studied for the mono-digestion and co-digestion of PWS and SS in continuous stirred-tank reactors for 208 days. The HRT was 22 days and the OLR 2.1 gVS L−1 d−1. In co-digestion, the OLR was increased to 2.8 gVS L−1 d−1 for one week. Nutrient elements were added to PWS mono-digestion at two different concentration levels. Co-digestion was stable, with a total concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) at a safe level below 0.35 g L−1 at both OLRs. The higher OLR during co-digestion would require an increase in reactor volume of 14%, compared to the mono-digestion of SS, but would increase the annual production of methane by 26%. The specific methane production levels for PWS mono-digestion, SS mono-digestion, and co-digestion were 170, 320, and 260 mL g−1VS, respectively. Co-digestion did not result in a synergistic increase in the methane yield. SCFAs accumulated in the mono-digestion of PWS when using lower levels of nutrient supplements, and the concentrations fluctuated at higher nutrient levels. The main conclusion is that PWS and SS can be co-digested with long-term process stability, without the addition of chemicals other than water and acetic acid. The specific methane production for mono-digestion of PWS was relatively low. The effect of using higher concentrations of micronutrients in PWS mono-digestion should be evaluated in future studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofuels Production and Processing Technology, 3rd Edition)
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12 pages, 1329 KiB  
Article
Enhancing the Fermentation Process in Biogas Production from Animal and Plant Waste Substrates in the Southeastern Region of Bulgaria
by Angel Terziev, Penka Zlateva and Martin Ivanov
Fermentation 2024, 10(4), 187; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10040187 - 29 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1732
Abstract
Annually, a huge amount of waste from plant biomass and animal manure is produced from agriculture and animal farming. Many studies provide information on the biomethane potential of agricultural and livestock wastes, but only a few studies have investigated the application of the [...] Read more.
Annually, a huge amount of waste from plant biomass and animal manure is produced from agriculture and animal farming. Many studies provide information on the biomethane potential of agricultural and livestock wastes, but only a few studies have investigated the application of the substrates in combination. The objective of the study is to enhance the fermentation process in the digester for biogas production, obtained from animal and plant waste substrates. In four batch processes for three months, the temperatures and the residence time of the substrates in the fermenter were analyzed. Simultaneously, electricity and thermal energy were produced via cogeneration units, which were exported to the public grid and city heating network. The plant substrate is a silage mixture of corn and wheat waste. The animal substrate is a mixture of beef and pig manure. Animal and vegetable waste raw materials are collected and transported to the site, located in the region of southeastern Bulgaria. The total annual consumption of animal and plant waste is 17,971 t/year. The enhancement of the process leads to the production of 1,506,000 Nm3 CH4/a of methane, the generation of which requires 299.63 MWh/a of electricity and 649.09 MWh/a thermal energy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofuels Production and Processing Technology, 3rd Edition)
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25 pages, 4924 KiB  
Article
Bioethanol Production from A-Starch Milk and B-Starch Milk as Intermediates of Industrial Wet-Milling Wheat Processing
by Aleksandra Katanski, Vesna Vučurović, Damjan Vučurović, Bojana Bajić, Žana Šaranović, Zita Šereš and Siniša Dodić
Fermentation 2024, 10(3), 144; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10030144 - 2 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1770
Abstract
The present work highlights the advances of integrated starch and bioethanol production as an attractive industrial solution for complex wheat exploitation to value-added products focusing on increased profitability. Bioethanol is conventionally produced by dry-milling wheat grain and fermenting sugars obtained by the hydrolysis [...] Read more.
The present work highlights the advances of integrated starch and bioethanol production as an attractive industrial solution for complex wheat exploitation to value-added products focusing on increased profitability. Bioethanol is conventionally produced by dry-milling wheat grain and fermenting sugars obtained by the hydrolysis of starch, while unused nonfermentable kernel compounds remain in stillage as effluents. On the other hand, the wet-milling of wheat flour enables complex wheat processing for the simultaneous production of starch, gluten, and fiber. The intermediates of industrial wheat starch production are A-starch milk, containing mainly large starch granules (diameter > 10 μm), and B-starch milk, containing mainly small starch granules (diameter < 10 μm). The present study investigates different starch hydrolysis procedures using commercial amylase for bioethanol production from A-starch and B-starch milk by batch fermentation using distillers’ yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae Thermosacc®. Cold hydrolysis with simultaneous liquefaction and saccharification at 65 °C, a pH of 4.5, and a duration of 60 min was the most efficient and energy-saving pretreatment reaching a high conversion rate of starch to ethanol of 93% for both of the investigated substrates. A process design and cost model of bioethanol production from A-starch and B-starch milk was developed using the SuperPro Designer® v.11 (Intelligen Inc., Scotch Plains, NJ, USA) software. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofuels Production and Processing Technology, 3rd Edition)
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