EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON THE PRODUCTION OF BIOFUEL (BIOETHANOL) FROM SPIROGYRA BIOMASS (Symposium section: Bioengineering)

摘要

The application of biofuel technology and engineering is no longer a doubted process of developing renewable alternatives to petroleum-based fuels and utilisations. This sustainable technology has increased tremendously with decreasing world crude oil reserves while the energy prices continually increasing. Bioethanol is a renewable, colourless, less toxic, and readily biodegradable form of fuel from biological sources; that can be used for heat, electricity, and fuel. In this research study, an alternative feedstock known as algae was used instead of traditional agro-based raw materials for the production of bioethanol, as its more beneficial raw material and does not compete with food, fodder, and is available abundantly in fresh water as well as marine eco-system, and more importantly it is also renewable. The type of algae studied, specifically Spirogyra, was used for the production of bioethanol, since it is known to possess a very simple cell-wall made up of cellulose and starch that can be converted to ethanol by fermentation process. A comparative study was also conducted using chemically pre-treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and un-treated Spirogyra biomass. The spirogyra biomass was subjected to saccharification process by the fungi Aspergillus Niger for hydrolysis, and for six (6) days. The process was followed by the fermentation process by using yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) for another six (6) days. The comparative study experimented and the results recorded showed that high-yield of ethanol was obtained from un-treated Spirogyra biomass when compared to chemically pre-treated biomass.