Solvent extraction of organic acids from stillage for its re-use in ethanol production process.

Stillage re-use in the fermentation stage in ethanol production is a technique used for the reduction of water and fermentation nutrients consumption. However, the inhibitory effect on yeast growth of the by-products and feed components that remains in stillage increases with re-use and reduces the number of possible recycles. Several methods such as ultrafiltration, electrodialysis and advanced oxidation processes have been used in stillage treatment prior its re-use in the fermentation stage. Nevertheless, few studies evaluating the effect of solvent extraction as a stillage treatment option have been performed. In this work, the inhibitory effect of serial stillage recycling over ethanol and biomass production was determined, using acetic acid as a monitoring compound during the fermentation and solvent extraction process. Raw palm oil methyl ester showed the highest acetic acid extraction from the aqueous phase, presenting a distribution coefficient of 3.10 for a 1:1 aqueous phase mixture:solvent rati...