A novel approach to the intensification of renewable and sustainable production of
ethanol from microalgal biomass was investigated using periodic ultrasonication. The effect of
utilizing ultrasonic pulsing during ethanol production through fermentation of spent biomass of
Synechocystis PCC6803 strain NAV001 was analysed using Saccharomyces cerevisiae with an
ultrasonic frequency of 20 kHz. Ultrasonic treatment resulted in enhancement of ethanol yields.
The ethanol yield was found to be higher along with increased cell concentration with the effect
of ultrasonication at 30°C, 15 % of power input (97.5 W) and 10 min pulse time. The growth and
ethanol production kinetics were determined using modified Gomperz equation. The specific
growth rate and the specific ethanol production rate were found to be 0.052 h-1 and 0.061 h-1
respectively, with the effect of ultrasonication.