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Articles

CJET - Special Edition: Vol.1, No.2, Sept., 2018

Solid State Fermentation of Orange Pomace for Bioethanol Production

  • U. Musa, I. A. Mohammed, S. M. Munnir, M.U.Garba,
  • A.F. Abdulhamid & E.P Uduak
Submitted
September 18, 2018
Published
2018-09-18

Abstract

This study is aimed at studying the effect of process variables on solid state fermentation of orange pomace for bioethanol production using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The effect of substrate concentrations (100 - 350 g), fermentation period (24 - 72 hours) and inoculum amount (2.0 - 4.5 g) on solid state fermentation of orange pomace for bioethanol production was investigated. Characterization of the resulting bioethanol was carried out to determine its fuel properties (viscosity, flash point, density, refractive index, specific gravity, pH and boiling point). Experimental results revealed increase in the process variables (substrate concentration, fermentation period and inoculum amount) led to a corresponding increase in bioethanol yield until an optimum condition was reached (substrate loading of 200 g, pH of 4.5, fermentation temperature of 35°C, inoculum amount of 3 g and fermentation period of 72 hours) after which a decline in yield was observed. The maximum ethanol yield of 32.32 % v/v was obtained at these condition. Characterization of the bioethanol sample showed that the ethanol has satisfactory fuel properties that establishes its suitability as an alternative renewable fuel that can be blended with gasoline.