Bioethanol production from coconut fiber using alkaline pretreatment and acid hydrolysis method

Abstract

Supporting Indonesia government program to decrease fuel consumption, using renewable energy such of bioethanol is one of the best ways. This research was done in order to utilize agriculture waste (coconut fiber) as raw material to produce bioetanol. However, coconut fiber contents lignin that will inhibit conversion process of glucose into ethanol. In this research, pretreatment steps aim to release and breakdown lignin in coconut fiber. Pretreatment was conducted by using alkaline method with 3% Sodium Hydroxide solution. Hydrolysis method was used to produce glucose by using Sulfuric Acid solution with various concentrations (1%, 2%, 3%, and 4 %) while in fermentation process used Saccharomyces cerevisiae with various times (5, 7, 9, and 11 days) and distillation used to get pure product of bioethanol. The results showed that higher H2SO4 concentration using on hydrolysis process made more glucose converted to bioethanol. The highest bioethanol content produced was 5.9420% from sample of 4% H2SO4 in 7 days of fermentation.