The Production Of Ethanol From Cassava Peel

ABSTRACT

Ethanol was produced from Cassava Peel by distillation and fermentation using an organism (Aspergilous niger) for a period of 1-7 days at -114.1C of ethanol was obtained which was further distilled and 23.5% of pure ethanol was obtained. The pure ethanol obtained can be used in our school and hospital as reagents. The ethanol obtained also contains carbohydrates which is a source of energy to its consumers.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0     INTRODUCTION

Increasing energy requirements and atmospheric contamination by combustion gases, has opened avenues for new, safe, effective and more accessible energy sources. People Livelihood diversification would require the understanding of society dynamics in terms of domestic energy consumption as well as investigating possible ways of producing energy from available resources (Amigun e al.,2008). Bioethanol is a microbiological way of converting simple sugar into ethanol and carbondioxide (CO) (Damaso ci a! 2004).Bioethanol is a principal fuel that can be used as petrol substitute for vehicle (Aroet a! 2005). it is a renewable energy source produced mainly by sugar fermentation process, although it can also be manufactured by the chemical process of reacting ethylene with steam (Anuj et at 2007). The main sources of sugar required to produce ethanol come from fuel or energy crops (Kim ei a! 2005). These crops include maize, cassava and cassava products. Wheat crops.Waste straw, guinea corn husk, rice husk, millet husk, and sawdust and sorghum plant. Ethanol is a high octane fuel and has replaced lead as an octane enhancer in petrol (Oghgren et al 2006). By blending ethanol with gasoline we can also oxygenate the fuel mixture so it burns more completely and reduces pollution emission. Ethanol fuel trends are widely sold in the United State. The national average prices between July 1 and July 15 2014 ranges from Biodiesel (B20) $3.98/gallon, Biodiesel(B99-B 100) $4.24/gallon, Electricity $0.21 kwh,Natural Gas(CNG)$2 .17/GGE, Propane $3 .07/gallon, Gasoline $3.70 gallon. Ethanol $3 .23/gallon and Diesel $3 .91/gallon. The above data shows that ethanol is cheaper than gasoline (petrol) on average and readily available in countries utilizing their energy crops potential like Brazil. Non-food parts of the cassava may play a very significant role in the production of energy since they produce relatively high amounts of biomass, are easily hydrolysable and have a high content of dry matter (Kosugi el aL,2009).The most common blend is 10% ethanol and 90% petrol (E) and vehicle engines require no modification to run on ethanol and vehicle warranties are unaffected also. Ethanol derived from biomass is the only liquid transportation fuels that do not contribute to the greenhouse gas effect (Adelekan, 2010, Nuwamanyaet al.201 0, Anuj ‘i at 2007). Ethanol has been produced in batch fermentation with fungi strains such as Aspergillus niger, Mucormucedo, Saccharomyces cerevislue that cannot tolerate high concentration of ethanol (Ledward et al 2003 .Oyeleke et al 2008, Seema et al., 2007). Biofuels can be produced by many different types of substrates. Among these, cassava (ManihotesculentaCrantz), a plant with high starch content, is considered a cheap, abundant and renewable resource for production of fermentable glucose syrups and dextrins. Moreover, it is easily produced in tropical and sub-tropical zones, mainly in Asia. South-America and South- Africa. The technological availability arid awareness of Africans especially local farmers to the economic potential of utilizing cassava waste in bio-ethanol production poses a great problem. The source of enzyme extraction and the conditions of operation of enzymes such as pH.temperature, reaction time, enzyme concentration, viscosity, mixing rates etc. in soluble solutions must be optimized to improve the economic and technological feasibility of the bioprocess. This research work therefore examined the Production of Bio-ethanol from Cassava Peels.

1.1.1 QUEST FOR ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOIJRCES

The earth experienced an increase in the mean temperature in the 1 9 century due to emission of greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide has been the largest greenhouse gas emitted through combustion of fossil fuel as coal, oil and natural gases (Sun and Cheng, 2002). United States alone is responsible for 25% of global energy consumption and 25% of the world carbon dioxide emission. Researches have shown that the deposit of crude oil in the earth crust is gradually depleting with time. This reason couple with the continuous hike in the pump price has driven global attention to the search for a renewable energy source to serve as transportation fuel and power industrial machines (Jin, Michel, Wyman and Dale, 2003). Bioethanol produced from fermentation of sugars in plants has been discovered to be a perfect replacement for gasoline in some advanced countries (Sharma, Kaira, Oberoi and Bansal, 2007).

1.2 STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

Large tons of cassava wastes are discarded annually in Nigeria when cassava is processed to various food products. This waste ends up in open dumps or drainage systems, threatening both surface water and ground water quality. It is therefore necessary to convert these wastes to tasteful end products rather than allowing them to become nuisance to the environment.

1.3 JUSTIFICATION

The global search for alternative renewable transportation fuel to replace the depleting fossil fuel is on the increase due to hike in petroleum price and global warming. This research work is aimed at investigating the possibility of transforming casava peels to valuable products like ethanol, animal feed stock or fertilizer, thereby contributing toward alternative energy supply as well as creating employment opportunity.

1.4 RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES AIM

The aim of this research work is to produce ethanol from Cassava peels using Zymomonas mobiles and Saccharnmycescerevisiae aid compare ethanol yield of the two organisms.

OBJECTIVES

The overall objectives of this work are:

1. To determine the pretreatment method for cyanide removal in cassava peels.
2. To determine the condition for enzyme hydrolysis of pretreated cassava peels.
3. To establish fermentation condition for hydrolyzed cassava peel.
4. To determine the yield of ethanol produced from fermentation by Zymomonas m obilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae
5. To assess the fermentation residue for possible organic fertilizer or animal feedstock.

CHAPTER TWO

2.0     REVIEWED OF RELATED LITERATURE

CASSAVA PRODUCTION IN AFRICA

 Nigeria became the highest producer of cassava in the world in 2010, producing 37million tons of world cassava production. This production was higher there that of Brazil and double. The amount of cassava produced in Thailand and Indonesia. It was also higher than that of Mozambique, Angola and Ghana (FAO, 2012). However, this high cassava production shows the importance and ability of Nigeria to produce sufficient quantity of cassava to satisfy the need for food carbohydrate in the country’s population.