Ethanol production from corn fiber separated after liquefaction in the dry grind process

Conversion of corn fiber to ethanol in the dry grind process can increase ethanol yields, improve coproduct quality and contribute to process sustainability. This work investigates the use of two physio-chemical pretreatments on corn fiber and effect of cellulase enzyme dosage to improve ethanol yields. Fiber separated after liquefaction of corn was pretreated using (I) hot water pretreatment (160 °C for 5, 10 or 20 min) and (II) wet disk milling and converted to ethanol. The conversion efficiencies of hot water pretreated fiber were higher than untreated fiber, with highest increase in conversion (10.4%) achieved for 5 min residence time at 160 °C. Disk milling was not effective in increasing conversion compared to other treatments. Hydrolysis and fermentation of untreated fiber with excess cellulase enzymes resulted in 33.3% higher conversion compared to untreated fiber.