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The researcher Cristiane Sanchez Farinas will present in Prague, capital of Czech Republic, a study that proposes a simplified route, faster and less costly to obtain second-generation ethanol. The research is one of the works that the scientist will exhibit at the 22nd International Congress of Chemical Engineering (Chisa 2016), which runs until August 31.

Supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), the study resulted in a more efficient enzyme cocktail in the saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass and ethanol production to experience the mixed culture of two fungi, Trichoderma reesei and Aspergillus oryzae. The process showed a significant difference in terms of glucose released during the hydrolysis reaction when compared to the individual growing fungi.

"Glucose levels released in the hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse using the enzyme cocktail obtained from mixed cultures resulted in a gain of about 50% compared with the best individual crop, which was with the fungus Aspergillus niger, "says the researcher.

For the ethanol biomass conversion process, the research used enzymes produced in-house, the hydrolysis instead of commercials. That is, enzymes were used from the fully fermented environment from filamentous fungi grown by solid state fermentation (FES).

According to the researcher, were assessed the selection and validation of the culture conditions to maximize the production of enzymes directly using bagasse sugarcane pretreated by steam explosion (BEX) as FES substrate by different cultivated fungi in isolation and in co-culture, including the study of the use of wheat bran and lactose as inducing the production of enzymes.

Cristiane explains that by using the integral through FES is possible to eliminate up to three steps of the process are extraction, filtration and centrifugation, offering advantages in terms of process cost reduction while preventing the generation of waste.

"It is expected with this project, collecting information to contribute effectively to generate the technological advances needed to increase the efficiency of the use of the vegetabel biomass as a renewable energy source," adds the researcher.

According to Cristiane, obtaining ethanol from lignocellulosic materials by biochemical pathway still presents some technical obstacles to the use of all the productive potential, such as recalcitrance - difficulty of biomass degradation - and the inaccessibility of lignocellulosic biomass, the high cost of enzymes and the need to find microorganisms capable of efficiently fermenting these sugars.

Therefore, the simplified route is seen by the researcher as a technological breakthrough needed to increase the efficiency of the use of biomass as a renewable energy source.

Guided by Cristiane Sanchez Farinas, the research proposes the simplification of the ethanol biomass conversion process was presented by the chemical engineering student Larissa Maehara, to the graduate program in chemical engineering from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) to obtain the master's degree in 2016.

In addition to this research, Cristiane will also present a study to improve the natural phosphate solubilization, using a combination of a mechanical biological route. For the researcher, present papers at international events is an opportunity to show the scientific community, which is developed by Embrapa, and allow new collaborations and interactions.

About Chisa

The Chisa is a major event of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering. The goal is to provide engineers, scientists, researchers, technicians, students, and other stakeholders a platform to present the latest research results, exchange ideas, opportunities for new contacts, and to establish as a stage for new collaborations.

For this edition are expected more than 1,500 works, which must be made in about 1000 participants. Parallel to Chisa, will be held the 19th Conference on Process Integration, Modelling and Optimization Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction (Pres 2016).

(Agência Gestão CT&I, com informações da Embrapa)