Energy Efficient Microwave Irradiation of Sago Bark Waste (SBW) for Bioethanol Production

• Main Authors: Saravana, Kannan Thangavelu, Abu Saleh, Ahmed, Ani, F.N.
• Format: E-Article
• Language: English
• Published: Trans Tech Publications 2013
• Subjects: TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery; TS Manufactures
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/13925/1/Energy%20Efficient%20Microwave%20Irradiation%20of%20Sago%20Bark%20Waste%20%28SBW%29%20%28abstract%29.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/13925/; http://www.scientific.net/AMR.701.249
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

The energy efficiency of microwave irradiation for bioethanol production from sago bark waste (SBW) was studied. The maximum sugar yield of 62.6 % was reached at the biomass loading 20% (w/w). The high ethanol yield of 60.2% theoretical yield, ethanol concentration 30.67 g/l was achieved by diluted sulfuric acid supported microwave irradiation with 40% (w/w) biomass loading at 60 h fermentation. The energy consumption of microwave irradiation to produce 1 g sugar and 1 g ethanol was calculated separately. The lowest energy consumption was noticed while biomass loading and energy input were fixed at 40 % (w/w) and 33 kJ (1100 W for 30 s) respectively, and it is amounted to 1.27 and 1.76 kJ to produce 1 g of sugar after enzymatic hydrolysis and 1 g ethanol after fermentation, individually. Usually, 1 g ethanol can produce approximately 27 kJ of energy, and therefore, the energy input for the microwave pretreatment was only 7% of the energy output. The microwave irradiation technique established for SBW to produce ethanol succeeded in 80% energy savings for producing 1 g ethanol compared to rape straw by microwave pretreatment previously reported.