Batch and multi-step fed-batch enzymatic saccharification of Formiline-pretreated sugarcane bagasse at high solid loadings for high sugar and ethanol titers

► Batch and fed-batch hydrolysis of Formiline-pretreated bagasse at high solid loadings. ► Higher glucose concentration and glucan conversion obtained by fed-batch process. ► 60–70g/L ethanol obtained by fermentation of enzymatic hydrolyzates. ► Bach and fed-batch SSF of Formiline pulp obtained 80g/L ethanol with 82.7% yield. Formiline pretreatment pertains to a biomass fractionation process. In the present work, Formiline-pretreated sugarcane bagasse was hydrolyzed with cellulases by batch and multi-step fed-batch processes at 20% solid loading. For wet pulp, after 144h incubation with cellulase loading of 10FPU/g dry solid, fed-batch process obtained ∼150g/L glucose and ∼80% glucan conversion, while batch process obtained ∼130g/L glucose with corresponding ∼70% glucan conversion. Solid loading could be further increased to 30% for the acetone-dried pulp. By fed-batch hydrolysis of the dried pulp in pH4.8 buffer solution, glucose concentration could be 247.3±1.6g/L with corresponding 86.1±0.6% glucan conversion. The enzymatic hydrolyzates could be well converted to ethanol by a subsequent fermentation using Saccharomices cerevisiae with ethanol titer of 60–70g/L. Batch and fed-batch SSF indicated that Formiline-pretreated substrate showed excellent fermentability. The final ethanol concentration was 80g/L with corresponding 82.7% of theoretical yield.