The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
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Title:	Biomass conversion of solid-waste (newsprint) into a clean fuel (ethanol) by enzymic hydrolysis and fermentation
Author:	Gandhi, Nimesh V.
View Online:	njit-etd1991-034 (vii, [10], 44 pages ~ 2.5 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Environmental Science
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Environmental Science
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Sofer, Samir S. (Committee chair) Trattner, Richard B. (Committee member) Baltzis, Basil (Committee member)
Date:	1991-12
Keywords:	Waste paper --Recycling. Fermentation. Refuse as fuel. Biomass energy.
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	A feasibility study has been performed with two bioprocesses for conversion of newsprint waste to an environmentally safe fuel (ethyl alcohol) and carbon dioxide. The following areas were investigated to accomplish this task: one hour pretreatment of newsprint by attrition, saccharification of paper slurry to glucose by cellulase and cellobiase, effects of pH, temperature and concentration of enzymes on conversion of paper to sugar, fermentation of glucose to ethanol and carbon dioxide by immobilized yeast, and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of paper to ethanol and carbon dioxide using enzymes and immobilized yeast. Results indicate that the enzymic hydrolysis of newsprint to sugar and fermentation of sugar to alcohol by immobilized yeast is not only an efficient means to recover energy but also to treat the solid waste and thus help preserve the environments However, a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation was found to be less favorable to produce the desired amount of glucose and ethanol.