In the last 15 years researches have aimed a more efficient use of agroindustrial residues for the production of fuels such as ethanol obtained from sugarcane bagasse. However, in this case, the production in large scale using this raw material is still unfeasible. One of the reasons for this unfeasibility is the knowledge required for the development of hydrolysis step due to reaction complexity and high cost of enzymes. In order to enhance this step, the use of reactor can create an

more »

... t that allows a maximum conversion of cellulose with a minimum quantity of enzymes. Thus, the aim of this work is to use a rotating drum reactor able to process a large amount of biomass. However, at high solid loadings of this substrate, the viscosity of the medium will be very high and other factors should also be considered, such as mixing, mass and heat transfer limitations. The present paper deals with the analysis of the enzymatic hydrolysis process of sugarcane bagasse performed in rotating drum reactor (working volume of 4 L), using bagasse (10 w/v) and commercial cellulase enzyme. In this study sugarcane bagasse was submitted, firstly, chemical pretreatment that consisted of two consecutive steps, the first with dilute sulfuric acid (1 % H 2 SO 4 ), and the second with alkaline solution of NaOH (1%). Hydrolyses were performed with an enzyme load of 7 and 15 FPU/g (dry weight) of bagasse with periodic sampling for the measurement of the concentration of glucose. The results of the experiments showed an increase in the glucose concentration (g L -1 ) due to the mass transfer and mixing allowing a larger contact area of the enzyme with the substrate (sugarcane bagasse) in the reactor. Área temática: Processos Biotecnológicos