Tuesday, April 20, 2010
LL Conference Facility (Hilton Clearwater Beach)
Lignocellulosic materials represent a promising option as a feedstock for ethanol production considering their great availability, low cost and high yield. The main processing challenge in the ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass is the feedstock pretreatment. Soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA) is one of the pretreatment methods practiced in general. In this work the Pinus rigida was selected as the lignocellulosic feedstock for the production of ethanol and pretreated by SAA process. The change in morphology of the feedstock after pretreatment was observed by using Scanning electron Microscope (SEM). The suitability of the pretreated pitch pine feedstock for the production of ethanol was found out by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process. The reducing sugar developed in the broth was determined by Dinitro Salicylic acid method and the concentration of ethanol produced was analyzed by using gas chromatograph (GC)