Bioethanol production from cogongrass (Imperata cylindrical)

Imperata cylindrical or cogongrass is one of the abundant low-value by-products of agriculture waste in the world. The research had provided a discussion of how this non-valuable agriculture waste can be managed to become an alternative bioresource for bioethanol production. For effective bioethanol production, a pretreatment process is prerequisite to reduce the hemicellulose and lignin content in this recalcitrant lignocellulosic biomass. In this study, optimisation of the temperature and concentration of acid and alkali were the major factor to ensure the effectiveness of the chemical pretreatment process. The pretreated conditions were optimised by
pretreated the Imperata cylindrical with H₂S0₄ and NaOH with 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5% (w/v) at 90, 120, and 150°C for 2 hours. Among the test conditions, the optimal conditions
of pretreatment were obtained in both 2.0% (w/v) of sulphuric acid and sodium hydroxide at 90 °C and 150 °C respectively. The efficiency of both acid and alkaline
pretreatment was evaluated through Simultaneous Saccharification & Fermentation process. The highest ethanol yield was obtained with the lmperata cylindrical
pretreated with sulphuric acid was 45.42%.