Utilization of municipal solid wastes (MSW) for alcohol production

M. Green, S. Kimchie, A. I. Malester, B. Rugg, G. Shelef

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Treatment of Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) yielding high-value products, in our case ethanol, energy and enriched plant growth media, are the objectives of this R & D program. The process includes resource recovery and combined treatment of MWS based on dilute acid hydrolysis and alcohol fermentation. The hydrolysis experiments were carried out at the Technion in a batch reactor and at the New York University in an extruder type reactor. It was found that the optimal conditions for the acid hydrolysis are: temperature of 230-235°C; pressure of 30-32 atm., pH value of about 0·50 and reaction time of 8-15 s. Under these conditions glucose yields of about 60% can be achieved. Methods to overcome toxicity problems while achieving high ethanol yields (better than 85%) in high substrate concentrations (TS = 25%) were developed, as well as techniques for byproducts utilization.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)285-295
Number of pages11
JournalBiological Wastes
Volume26
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1988

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Environmental Science
  • Waste Management and Disposal
  • Pollution
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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