USING WASTE PAPER AS A PROMISING FEEDSTOCK FOR BIO-ETHANOL FUEL PRODUCTION WITH CONSEQUENCE PURIFICATION USING DISTILLATION TECHNIQUE AND MOLECULAR SIEVE

In the present study, office waste paper was employed as feedstock for bioethanol production. Lignocellulosic material was pre-treated with dilute sulphuric acid (5 %) to release monomeric sugars. Acid pretreatment of waste papers was carried out at different ratios of 10, 15, and 20 ml for each 1 gm of raw material to obtain the best yield of hydrolysate. After the pH adjustment of each paper hydrolysate, the hydrolysate was subjected to fermentation and distillation processes respectively. The fermentation process was performed using Saccharomyces Cerevisiae to convert the released sugars to bio-ethanol as a main product. The highest bio-ethanol yield (28.3%) was obtained at a high concentration from the yeast fermentation using waste paper pretreated with acid at a ratio of 10:1 ml/gm (liquid to solid). Economically, office waste paper is a suitable raw material for sustainable bio-ethanol production. Furthermore, bioethanol obtained was blended with pure gasoline at increasingly higher concentrations. A gasohol was homogenously mixed with four formulated fuels such as gasoline blend (E0), gasoline–5% bio-ethanol blend (E5), gasoline–10% bio-ethanol blend (E10), and gasoline–15% bio-ethanol blend (E15). It is critical to investigate the effect of various bio-ethanol blends on the characteristics and performance of internal combustion fuel. These binary mixtures were tested using density, Ried vapor pressure (RVP), and Research Octane Number (RON) tester according to the ASTM-D4052, ASTM-D6378, and ASTM-D2699 respectively under selected operating conditions. The results obtained revealed that the addition of gasoline–bioethanol blend decreases the RVP value of the fuel blend, whereas the RON and density increase because bioethanol has a high octane rating compared to conventional gasoline, resulting in enhanced gasoline’s performance in internal combustion engines. Overall, the RON of gasohol was enhanced remarkably with the increase in ethanol ratio.