Estudo das etapas de produção de etanol de 2ª geração no Brasil

Abstract

Due to the large production of sugarcane and its use in the sugarcane agroindustry, materials such as straw and sugarcane bagasse are generated. These are widely used for power generation and animal feed production. An alternative for the reuse of these residues is their use as a cellulosic source for the production of Second Generation Ethanol (2G), aiming at the substitution of fossil fuels. Through this it is possible to add value to the waste and assist in reducing the environmental impact. The present work aimed to perform a literature review to describe the stages of production of 2G Ethanol. In addition, a search was made for the production methods of the Brazilian 2G Ethanol, Granbio and Raízen, and applications for the resulting lignin in this process. From this, the pretreatment used by sugar and alcohol plants is steam explosion, but Granbio mainly uses sugarcane straw as biomass, while Raízen uses sugarcane bagasse as its source cellulosic. In addition, both use Danish enzymes for the hydrolysis step, and yeasts used for converting sugars into ethanol are imported. Lignin can be applied in different processes to obtain higher added value products such as thermoplastics, foams, ceramic products, concrete additives and carbon fibers. Given this scenario, Brazil has a high potential for the use of sugarcane straw and bagasse through their use as raw material for the production of Second Generation Ethanol.