Ethanol production: Energy from U.S.W.

This patent discloses a method for recovering organic fraction from U.S.W. Advantageously, this method does not require any pretreatment of the lignocellulose biomass by steam explosion, 2 to 5 tons of waste a day will be able to be processed by this method.

The method involves, A) pretreatment of organic fraction with mineral acids preferably, sulfuric acid to produce a first slurry containing an insoluble solid susceptible to enzymatic attack by cellulases, B) enzymatic hydrolysis by cellulases and simultaneous fermentation, using an ethanologenic microorganism, of the first slurry, in order to obtain a second slurry containing diluted ethanol, C) distillation of the second slurry to obtain wet ethanol, a recyclable liquid effluent and a solid.

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