Ethanol production by Kluyveromyces lactis immobilized cells in copolymer carriers produced by radiation polymerization.

The conditions for batch and continuous production of ethanol, using immobilized growing yeast cells of Kluyveromyces lactis, have been optimized. Yeast cells have been immobilized in hydrogel copolymer carriers composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with various hydrophilic monomers, using radiation copolymerization technique. Yeast cells were immobilized through adhesion and multiplication of yeast cells themselves. The ethanol production of immobilized growing yeast cells with these hydrogel carriers was related to the monomer composition of the copolymers and the optimum monomer composition was hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). In this case by using batch fermentation, the superior ethanol production was 32.9 g L(-1) which was about 4 times higher than that of cells in free system. The relation between the activity of immobilized yeast cells and the water content of the copolymer carriers was also discussed. Immobilized growing yeast cells in PVA: HEMA (7%: 10%, w/w) hydrogel copolymer carrier, were used in a packed-bed column reactor for the continuous production of ethanol from lactose at different levels of concentrations (50, 100 and 150) g L(-1). For all lactose feed concentrations, an increase in dilution rates from 0.1 h(-1) to 0.3 h(-1) lowered ethanol concentration in fermented broth, but the volumetric ethanol productivity and volumetric lactose uptake rate were improved. The fermentation efficiency was lowered with the increase in dilution rate and also at higher lactose concentration in feed medium and a maximum of 70.2% was obtained at the lowest lactose concentration 50 g L(-1).