Bioethanol production from industrial algae waste

Abstract

This paper presents a study carried out to determine the feasibility to obtain bioethanol from an industrial algae waste. The influence of some parameters on acid hydrolysis was studied. The results indicated that the overall hydrolysis ability is a function of the combined action of acid concentration, temperature and reaction time. The hydrolysates with higher amount of reducing sugars were used for ethanolic fermentation using S. Cerevisiae. The highest bioethanol yield 11.6 gEtOH/galgae was obtained at 70 min, a sulphuric acid concentration of 9% wt. and acid/dried algae ratio of 7. The present study showed that the industrial waste of Euchema Spinosum contains carbohydrates that can be converted into bioethanol with an efficiency of 75%. Moreover, the potential of the residue after acid hydrolysis process as sustainable solid fuel regarding its properties was analysed. The results were compared with those obtained from the literature and discussed according to international standards.