Paper details

Title:

Laboratory Investigation of Ethanol Production from Agricultural Residues

Author(s):

El-Zawawy, W.K., Ibrahim, M.M., Abdel-Fattah, Y.R., Soliman, N.A., Mahmoud, M.M.

Document(s):

Abstract:

As their is an increase of global demand in oil, the production of bioethanol from renewable agricultural feedstocks is also on the rise. Ethanol can be produced from a number of renewable resources such as starches, sugars, or lignocellulosic materials. Lignocellulosic materials continue to be investigated as a source of fermentable sugars for biofuel (ethanol) production because of their high availability. The current research investigates the utilization of newspaper and a mixture with rice straw, banana plant waste and corn cob as a feedstock to produce a value­added product – fuel ethanol, where ethanol is nowadays an important product in the fuel market. A preliminary investigation was performed to assess the conversion of the cellulosic component of newspaper as well as their mixture with agricultural wastes to ethanol. Biomasses were first tested, then a laboratory experimental set­up was designed in order to perform the necessary conversions. Conversion of the cellulose to glucose was achieved by applying chemical pulping method as a pre­treatment method for the biomasses then followed by two processes, namely acid hydrolysis and enzyme hydrolysis. Sulfuric acid, 5%, was used in acid hydrolysis and Trichoderma reesei cellulases in enzyme hydrolysis. These experiments demonstrated that glucose concentration differs according to the type of the biomass and type of hydrolysis. Conversion of the glucose to ethanol during fermentation was accomplished by the action of yeasts from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Ethanol production in the culture sample was monitored using gas chromatography. The results indicate that ethanol can be made from the above mentioned residues in a different yield.

Keywords:

biomass, enzymatic hydrolysis, ethanol, fermentation, lignocellulosic sources

Topic:

Fuels from biomass

Subtopic:

Production, supply and use of liquid biofuels from starch and sugar feedstocks

Event:

18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

Session:

VP3.2.6

Pages:

1746 - 1752

ISBN-13:

978-88-89407-56-1

ISBN-10:

88-89407-56-5

Paper DOI:

10.5071/18thEUBCE2010-VP3.2.6

Price:

FREE