Green Fuel Bio-Ethanol from Agriculture Waste Wheat Straw

Abstract

: In India molasses availability is govern by sugar production and which meets the present of alcohol demand and also the harmful effects on the environment. Wheat Straw is new upcoming raw material for production of ethanol. Ethanol is potentially used for potable purpose and as solvent in chemical industries. Bio-ethanol has nonpolluting properties. Indian government has started 5% blending of ethanol with petrol. Presently in India ethanol is manufacture by petroleum and molasses rout. But demand of power ethanol is so high that existing supply cannot meet demand. It is very necessary to shift for another renewable raw material recourses when pollution problem are taken into consideration for the molasses process. The adverse effect on environment is very harmful in molasses.
Bioconversion of cereal straw to bioethanol is becoming an attractive alternative to conventional fuel ethanol production from grains. In this work, the best operational conditions for steam-explosion pretreatment of wheat straw for ethanol production by a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process were studied, using diluted acid [H2SO4 0.9 % w/w)] and water as preimpregnation agents. Acid- or water-impregnated biomass was steam-exploded at different temperatures (160–200°C) and residence times (5, 10, and 20 min). Composition of solid and filtrate obtained after pretreatment, enzymatic digestibility and ethanol production of pretreated wheat straw at different experimental conditions was analyzed. The best pretreatment conditions to obtain high conversion yield to ethanol (approx 80% of theoretical) of cellulose-rich residue after steam-explosion were 190°C and 10 min or 200°C and 5 min, in acid-impregnated straw. However,180°C for 10 min in acid-impregnated biomass provided the highest ethanol yield referred to raw material (140 L/t wheat straw), and sugars recovery yield in the filtrate (300 g/kg wheat straw).