Bioethanol production assisted under magnetic field

Fermentations assisted by magnetic fields have been considered a promising and innovative unconventional technique for the production of bioethanol, since these fields may be responsible for the stimulating effects on the cells during fermentation process, resulting in improvements in the production of this biofuel. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the bioethanol production by S. cerevisiae X2180 during fermentation under extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields. The experiments were carried out in an unconventional bioreactor assisted by magnetic field with field lines in the axial direction and using three different recycling arrangements (spiral-shape tube, U-shape tube and whole bioreactor) e magnetic flux density (5, 10 and 15 mT). The fermentation kinetics were monitored by the substrate consumption, pH fermentation broth and ethanol formation. The attained results showed that the magnetic field favored the production of bioethanol, reducing fermentation times by 2 hours. But, the best results were observed when the whole bioreactor and under 10 mT were studied. Thus, at this condition an average increase of approximately 34% in the ethanol yield was attained respect to the control experiment. These results corroborate the potential of this unconventional technology applied to the bioethanol production and seeking future applications at the industrial scale.