Bioethanol production from rice hull and evaluation of the final solid residue

The objective of this research was to produce bioethanol from rice hulls and to evaluate the recovery and potential use of the residue resulting from the enzymatic hydrolysis step before fermentation. Acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis were studied for saccharification of polysaccharides. Fermentation was conducted for up to 24 h with Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast. After process optimization, it was possible to produce >7.0 mg mL−1 of ethanol after only 2 h of reaction. Characterization of the solid residues from the hydrolyzed rice husk and the in natura rice husk showed that these solids have different characteristics and present different adsorption potentials because the residue has higher silica content. The product has potential use in industrial or laboratorial adsorption processes. The results from this study offer support for the potential use of rice husks for bioethanol generation and use the solid residue from hydrolysis for adsorption.