Bioethanol Production from Waste Banana Peels using Alkaline Textile Industry Wastewater for Delignification Process

Depletion of fossil fuel quantity and the higher dependence on it may cause serious problems in the future. Alternative energy sources are required to overcome potential problems. Bioethanol is one of the suitable alternatives to fulfill our energy requirements. Bioethanol can be produced from various sources, including organic waste such as fruit and vegetable waste, which has the potential to produce bioethanol. In this work, bioethanol was produced from banana peels using alkaline textile industrywastewater for the delignification process. The effect of H2SO4strength, pH of the solution for fermentation, banana peels delignification, and grinding (size reduction) on ethanol production was analyzed. Experimental results show that increasing the sulfuric acid concentration from 2% to 5%, and then to 10%, led to an increase in the refractive index and hence, ethanol production, with maximum ethanol yield observed at 10% H₂SO₄. Increasing the pH of the solution of fermentation from 2 to 14 shows an increase in the refractive index, and maximum ethanol was obtained at pH 6. The delignification and grinding (size reduction of banana peels) also showed a positive effect on the production of ethanol.