Ethanol producing process and apparatus

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process for producing ethanol by carrying out the following steps: performing enzymatic saccharification of pre-treated lignocellulosic biomass in a reaction system; performing ethanol fermentation of fermentable sugars obtained from the saccharified pre-treated lignocellulosic biomass in the same reaction zone as the enzymatic saccharification; distilling ethanol directly off from a reaction treatment liquid in the reaction zone, so as to recover the ethanol. The process suitably uses an ethanol producing apparatus including: one reaction vessel having a biomass raw material inlet, a diastatic enzyme inlet, and a fermentation microorganism inlet; heating means for adjusting a temperature inside the reaction vessel; pH controlling means for controlling pH inside the reaction vessel; stirring means for stirring a liquid inside the reaction vessel; and distilling means for distilling the liquid inside the reaction vessel, which distilling means is directly connected to the reaction vessel. Hence, the present invention enables efficient production of ethanol from the lignocellulosic biomass with simple operations.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.