A Study of the Pre-Treatment Temperature of Lignocellulosic Butanols an Alternative Fuel (BIOFUEL) Produced from Bamboo using Clostridium Acetobutylicum

Abstract

Conversion of lignocellulosic biomass from bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) to butanol is an important alternative energy source. In this work, bamboo was used as biomass feedstock for the production of butanol by the fermentation of sugars. Mechanical grinding was carried out, followed by pre-treatment with dilute sulfuric acid concentration of 0.5 and 1.0 (%v/v). This was done at temperatures of 25, 110, 120, 150 and 2000C at time intervals of 2 and 4 hours. Prehydrolysate was later analyzed for total sugars by the use of UV-Visible Spectro Photometer. For the conditions considered, the maximum glucose yields were obtained at 200oC. The yields after pre-treatment were 244.80 mg/g, at pre-treatment conditions of 2000C and acid concentrations of 1%. Water insoluble solids obtained were subsequently hydrolysed with Celluclast (Trichoderma reesi) and β-glucosidase (Novozyme 188) for 72 hrs. Bacteria (Clostridium acetobutylicum) were then used to ferment the solubilized sugar into butanol. Raman spectroscopy was used to determine the butanol yield. Optical Microscope images of bamboo samples were obtained at various stages of pre-treatment and hydrolysis. These revealed the morphological changes that occur in the cellular structure of the bamboo during exposure to acid and enzymatic hydrolysis. The results show that, increasing temperature, time and acid concentration are associated with higher total sugar yields and cellulose conversion rates.