Patent ID: 8227220

Claim:
A process for the preparation of ethanol from starch using thermophilic and thermotolerant microorganisms, said process comprising the steps of: (a) cultivating, harvesting and preserving the thermophilic microorganism Geobacillus sp. IIPTN (MTCC 5319) and thermotolerant ethanologen Kluyveromyces sp. IIP E453 (MTCC 5314); (b) subjecting the starch to simultaneous liquefaction and saccharification by extracellular enzymes of the bacteria Geobacillus sp. IIPTN (MTCC 5319), at temperature of 40° C.-80° C., at pH in the range of 5-7.0, to obtain the starch hydrolysate; (c) subjecting said starch hydrolysate obtained in step (b) to fermentation to ethanol by thermotolerant ethanologen Kluyveromyces sp. IIP E453 (MTCC 5314), at a temperature in the range of 40° C.-100° C., at a pH in the range of 4.5-5.5, followed by the recovery of ethanol by conventional distillation; OR (d) subjecting the starch to simultaneous liquefaction, saccharification and fermentation by co-culturing thermophile Geobacillus sp. IIPTN (MTCC 5319) and Kluyveromyces sp. IIP E453 (MTCC 5314) at a temperature of 40° C.-60° C. and at a pH of 4.5-5.5, followed by the recovery of ethanol by known method.