PRODUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOETHANOL FROM Euphorbia tirucalli PLANT

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was production and characterization of bio-ethanol from Euphorbia tirucalli. There is an interesting in developing alternate sources of fuel to fossil fuel due to lowering stocks, increasing prices and the need for environmentally sustainable energy sources. One major alternative to fossil fuels were bio-ethanol and Euphorbia tirucalli was represented as a significant source for bio-ethanol production because it was contained high amount of cellulose and hemicellulose contents and also non-food ligno-cellulosic materials. This study was designed to utilize Euphorbia tirucalli for the production of bioethanol using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The experiment was designed by using box beniken design method with three factors (Concentration, temperature and time) on the yield of reducing sugar. The conversion of Euphorbia tirucalli to bioethanol can be achieved mainly by four process steps: pre-treatment, acid hydrolysis, fermentation and finally distillation. The chemical composition of the Euphorbia tirucalli was investigated. The value of Neutral detergent fiber, Acid detergent fiber and Acid detergent liginin content of sample were found 51.103 ± 0.022, 40.2 ± 0.243 and 7.9 ± 0.125%, respectively. Euphorbia tirucalli was hydrolyzed by using sulphuric acid solution with concentration 2, 3, and 4%, at temperature 80, 100 and 120 °C for three times 60, 90 and 120 minute. Then, 63.87% of the yield reducing sugar was obtained at 3% H2SO4, 100 °C and 90 minute in the hydrolysis process. The optimized hydro-lysate sample was fermented at pH 5.5 for 1, 2, 3, and 4 days, at temperature 2, 25 and 32 °C. The maximum of 11.6 mL/50 g or 0.18 g/g bioethanol content was obtained using Pycnometer measurement at 4 days of fermentation time and at 25 °C of reaction temperature. 4.70 mL/50 g of bioethanol was obtained at 4 days and 2 °C, and 6.60 mL/50 g of bio-ethanol was obtained at 4 days and 32 °C. Then, characterization of the product sample was performed by FTIR. Finally, from these investigations it could be concluded that the plant Euphorbia tirucalli was used as an alternative feed-stock for bioethanol production rather than using food crops.