Microwave Assisted Alkaline Pretreatment of Algae Waste in the Production of Cellulosic Bioethanol

Rocío Maceiras, Víctor Alfonsín, Luis Seguí and Juan F. González
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Rocío Maceiras: Centro Universitario de la Defensa, Escuela Naval Militar, Plaza de España s/n, 36920 Marín, Spain
Víctor Alfonsín: Centro Universitario de la Defensa, Escuela Naval Militar, Plaza de España s/n, 36920 Marín, Spain
Luis Seguí: Escuela Naval Militar, Plaza de España s/n, 36920 Marín, Spain
Juan F. González: Department of Applied Physics, School of Industrial Engineering, University of Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-10

Abstract: Biomass pretreatment has an important role in the production of cellulosic bioethanol. In this study, the effectiveness of microwave assisted alkaline pretreatment of algae waste was analysed. After pretreatment, the product was hydrolysed using sulphuric acid. The effects of microwave power, irradiating time, solid–liquid ratio and NaOH concentration were examined. Under the best conditions, the fermentable sugars were converted to cellulosic bioethanol using Saccharomyces Cerevisiae with a bioethanol yield of 1.93 ± 0.01 g/g and a fermentation efficiency of 40.4%. The reducing sugars concentration was 30% higher than that obtained from conventional hydrolysis without pretreatment. The obtained results suggest that microwave assisted alkaline pretreatment is effective in improving the production of cellulosic bioethanol of algae waste compared to that without microwave effect. Considering energy consumption, low microwave power and short microwave irradiation time are favourable for this pretreatment.

Keywords: industrial waste; microwave pretreatment; acid hydrolysis; bioethanol; energy consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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