IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i19p4812-d1486012.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Harnessing Switchgrass for Sustainable Energy: Bioethanol Production Processes and Pretreatment Technologies

Author

Listed:
  • Hilal Unyay

    (Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska 213, 90-924 Lodz, Poland)

  • Nuriye Altınay Perendeci

    (Department of Environmental Engineering, Akdeniz University, 07050 Antalya, Turkey)

  • Piotr Piersa

    (Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska 213, 90-924 Lodz, Poland)

  • Szymon Szufa

    (Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska 213, 90-924 Lodz, Poland)

  • Agata Skwarczynska-Wojsa

    (Department of Water Purification and Protection, Rzeszow University of Technology, Al. Powstanców Warszawy 12, 35-959 Rzeszow, Poland)

Abstract

This paper investigates bioethanol production from switchgrass, focusing on enhancement of efficiency through various pretreatment methods and comparing two bioethanol production processes: simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) and separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF). Physical, chemical, and biological pretreatment processes are applied to enhance the breakdown of switchgrass’s lignocellulosic structure. Effects of pretreatments, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation on ethanol yield are discussed in detail. The comparative analysis reveals that SSF yields higher ethanol outputs within shorter times by integrating hydrolysis and fermentation into a single process. In contrast, SHF offers more control by separating these stages. The comparative analysis highlights that SSF achieves higher ethanol yields more efficiently, although it might restrict SHF’s operational flexibility. This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current pretreatments, hydrolysis methods, and fermentation processes in bioethanol production from switchgrass, offering insights into their scalability, economic viability, and potential environmental benefits. The findings are expected to contribute to the ongoing discussions and developments in renewable bioenergy solutions, supporting advancing more sustainable and efficient bioethanol production techniques.

Suggested Citation

  • Hilal Unyay & Nuriye Altınay Perendeci & Piotr Piersa & Szymon Szufa & Agata Skwarczynska-Wojsa, 2024. "Harnessing Switchgrass for Sustainable Energy: Bioethanol Production Processes and Pretreatment Technologies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-13, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:19:p:4812-:d:1486012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/19/4812/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/19/4812/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Başar, İ.A. & Kökdemir Ünşar, E. & Ünyay, H. & Perendeci, N.A., 2020. "Ethanol, methane, or both? Enzyme dose impact on ethanol and methane production from untreated energy crop switchgrass varieties," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 287-297.
    2. Zheng, Zehui & Liu, Jinhuan & Yuan, Xufeng & Wang, Xiaofen & Zhu, Wanbin & Yang, Fuyu & Cui, Zongjun, 2015. "Effect of dairy manure to switchgrass co-digestion ratio on methane production and the bacterial community in batch anaerobic digestion," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 249-257.
    3. Regis, Francesco & Monteverde, Alessandro Hugo Antonio & Fino, Debora, 2023. "A techno-economic assessment of bioethanol production from switchgrass through biomass gasification and syngas fermentation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bacenetti, Jacopo & Sala, Cesare & Fusi, Alessandra & Fiala, Marco, 2016. "Agricultural anaerobic digestion plants: What LCA studies pointed out and what can be done to make them more environmentally sustainable," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 669-686.
    2. Chen, Miao & Liu, Shujun & Yuan, Xufeng & Li, Qing X. & Wang, Fengzhong & Xin, Fengjiao & Wen, Boting, 2021. "Methane production and characteristics of the microbial community in the co-digestion of potato pulp waste and dairy manure amended with biochar," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 357-367.
    3. De Clercq, Djavan & Wen, Zongguo & Caicedo, Luis & Cao, Xin & Fan, Fei & Xu, Ruifei, 2017. "Application of DEA and statistical inference to model the determinants of biomethane production efficiency: A case study in south China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 1231-1243.
    4. Tian, Guangliang & Yang, Bin & Dong, Minghua & Zhu, Rui & Yin, Fang & Zhao, Xingling & Wang, Yongxia & Xiao, Wei & Wang, Qiang & Zhang, Wudi & Cui, Xiaolong, 2018. "The effect of temperature on the microbial communities of peak biogas production in batch biogas reactors," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 15-25.
    5. Adrian Woźniak & Ksawery Kuligowski & Lesław Świerczek & Adam Cenian, 2025. "Review of Lignocellulosic Biomass Pretreatment Using Physical, Thermal and Chemical Methods for Higher Yields in Bioethanol Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-33, January.
    6. Freitas, F.F. & Furtado, A.C. & Piñas, J.A.V. & Venturini, O.J. & Barros, R.M. & Lora, E.E.S., 2022. "Holistic Life Cycle Assessment of a biogas-based electricity generation plant in a pig farm considering co-digestion and an additive," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PB).
    7. Kainthola, Jyoti & Kalamdhad, Ajay S. & Goud, Vaibhav V., 2020. "Optimization of process parameters for accelerated methane yield from anaerobic co-digestion of rice straw and food waste," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1352-1359.
    8. Li, Pengfei & Cheng, Chongbo & Guo, Rui & Yu, Ran & Jiao, Youzhou & Shen, Dekui & He, Chao, 2022. "Interactions among the components of artificial biomass during their anaerobic digestion with and without sewage sludge," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PB).
    9. Jain, Sanyam & Kumar, Shushil, 2024. "A comprehensive review of bioethanol production from diverse feedstocks: Current advancements and economic perspectives," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    10. Mao, Chunlan & Wang, Yanbo & Wang, Xiaojiao & Ren, Guangxin & Yuan, Liuyan & Feng, Yongzhong, 2019. "Correlations between microbial community and C:N:P stoichiometry during the anaerobic digestion process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 687-695.
    11. Du, Fang & Qu, Jibin & Hu, Qingxiu & Yuan, Xufeng & Yin, Guanhong & Wang, Li & Zou, Yajie, 2021. "Maximizing the value of Korshinsk peashrub branches by the integration of Pleurotus tuoliensis cultivation and anaerobic digestion of spent mushroom substrate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 679-686.
    12. Xionghui Gao & Xiaoyu Tang & Kunyang Zhao & Venkatesh Balan & Qili Zhu, 2021. "Biogas Production from Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Spent Mushroom Substrate with Different Livestock Manure," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-15, January.
    13. Wu, Di & Li, Lei & Zhao, Xiaofei & Peng, Yun & Yang, Pingjin & Peng, Xuya, 2019. "Anaerobic digestion: A review on process monitoring," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 1-12.
    14. Shamurad, Burhan & Sallis, Paul & Petropoulos, Evangelos & Tabraiz, Shamas & Ospina, Carolina & Leary, Peter & Dolfing, Jan & Gray, Neil, 2020. "Stable biogas production from single-stage anaerobic digestion of food waste," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    15. Li, Demao & Tang, Ruohao & Yu, Liang & Chen, Limei & Chen, Shulin & Xu, Song & Gao, Feng, 2020. "Effects of increasing organic loading rates on reactor performance and the methanogenic community in a new pilot upflow solid reactor for continuously processing food waste," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 420-429.
    16. Youfei Zhou & Weijie Hu & Jun Sheng & Cheng Peng & Tianfeng Wang, 2023. "Comparison of Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Buffalo Manure and Excess Sludge with Different Mixing Ratios under Thermophilic and Mesophilic Conditions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-16, April.
    17. Robert Hren & Aleksandra Petrovič & Lidija Čuček & Marjana Simonič, 2020. "Determination of Various Parameters during Thermal and Biological Pretreatment of Waste Materials," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-15, May.
    18. Małgorzata Fugol & Hubert Prask & Józef Szlachta & Arkadiusz Dyjakon & Marta Pasławska & Szymon Szufa, 2023. "Improving the Energetic Efficiency of Biogas Plants Using Enzymatic Additives to Anaerobic Digestion," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-12, February.
    19. Bi, Shaojie & Hong, Xiujie & Yang, Hongzhi & Yu, Xinhui & Fang, Shumei & Bai, Yan & Liu, Jinli & Gao, Yamei & Yan, Lei & Wang, Weidong & Wang, Yanjie, 2020. "Effect of hydraulic retention time on anaerobic co-digestion of cattle manure and food waste," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 213-220.
    20. Syaichurrozi, Iqbal, 2018. "Biogas production from co-digestion Salvinia molesta and rice straw and kinetics," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 76-86.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:19:p:4812-:d:1486012. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.