Risto Ilves

State of the Art on the Conventional Processes for Ethanol Production

Abstract The present review deals with bioethanol as an important food processing, chemical, pharmaceutical, and perfume raw material that is obtained by conventional processes. The continuous development of the conventional production methods of ethanol is caused by the changing raw materials used for the production. The changing raw materials have resulted in the changing of conventional production process of ethanol. The two main production methods of ethanol are chemically synthesized ethanol and ethanol recovery from fermentation of carbohydrates. Today, the most important raw material used in the development of conventional production methods of ethanol is lignocellulose material. However, this gives rise to the need for developing novel solutions for raw materials, especially for pretreatment, to improve efficiency. The chapter gives an overview of the most widely used production processes and development trends in the production of ethanol.