Studies on the Characterization of Agriculture Waste (Sugarcane Bagasse) for Bio-ethanol Yield Production

The structure properties of sugarcane bagasse were characterized to distinguish the differences between untreated and chemically treated sugarcane bagasse. 5% sodium hydroxide solution was used as an alkaline pre-treatment. The crystallinity index (CI) for both untreated and chemically treated sugarcane bagasse was determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that alkali-treated has higher crystallinity index compared to untreated sugarcane bagasse. Then, the samples underwent fermentation process using Saccharomyces cerevisiae sp. The bio-ethanol yield production between untreated and chemically treated sugarcane bagasse was analyzed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The result showed that untreated sugarcane bagasse has higher production of bio-ethanol yield (25%) compared to chemically treated sugarcane bagasse (15%). It was concluded that 5% NaOH has degraded the present sugar content inside the sugarcane bagasse. The higher degradation of sugar content by alkaline pre-treatment subsequently reduced the production of bio-ethanol. It was suggested that NaOH concentrations above 1% might not be suitable for the pre-treatment