Aproveitamento da casca do coco verde para a produção de etanol de segunda geração

Abstract

The increase of coconut water consume has led to a greater amount of residues which in turns is calling researchers attention on how to reuse them. Due to the features, the green coconut fiber shows itself as one more alternative to the development and production of ethanol 2G, as well as being a good option for the reuse of this agro industrial residue. Currently, the enzymatic hydrolyze is seen as one of the most attractive option to convert cellulose in glucose. However, because of the recalcitrant nature of the varieties of biomass existing, the enzymatic hydrolyze becomes inefficient, demanding a pretreatment of the lignocellulose material. This paper shows a study focusing on two different chemical pretreatments with the green coconut fiber, the first using acid and the second using alkaline; aiming to evaluate the sugar amount consequently liberated in the liquid fraction of the solution used to obtain ethanol of second generation. The tests were made in autoclave at 121ºC and 1 atm, varying the concentration of the reagent (from 0.5 to 10%), sulfuric acid and hydroxide of sodium, and the time reaction (20, 40 and 60 minutes). The greater sugar amount liberation occurred during the alkaline pretreatment at 5% and 40 minutes, showing an average concentration of 44.72 g/100g of non-treated fiber. In the test of fermentation capacity with the pretreated juice, two yeasts were used, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia stipitis, in which was observed success in the fermentation process whose experiments were developed by using 0 and 5% of sulfuric acid, both inoculated with the yeast Pichia stipitis. The hydrolysis results, together with the chemical analysis of the pretreated biomass have confirmed the alkaline pretreatment as the best working condition. The best result obtained was an enzymatic conversion of 87% and an overall yield of 22.34 g/ 100g of fresh fiber. The fermentation of the hydrolyzed one was promoted using Saccharomyces cerevisiae during the period of 9 hours, which showed a concentration of ethanol and an fermentative yield, on average, 5,90 g/L e 90,42%, respectively. The feasibility production study found that it is possible to produce 39 liters of ethanol for each ton of residue of green coconut husk.