Intensive Bioethanol Production Using Date Stems By-products and Natural Sugars

Date Stem By-products (DSB) have been used as agricultural feedstock to perform bioethanol production in a batch bioreactor. To study the effect of an optimal mixture of fruit hydrolysates (۲۰%dates, ۲۰% Figs, and ۲۰% sugar beet) on ethanol yield, different parameters have been followed up, including pH, total sugars, and ethanol yield. The optimal ethanol concentration was found for date stems by-products +۲۰% dates, it was about ۱۹.۳۸ g/L after ۷۲h fermentation process, in such case, the higher initial sugar concentration is close to ۲۰۴.۵ g/L, and the pH dropped from ۴.۵ to ۴.۲۱, while it was only about ۱۸.۴۸, ۱۳.۰۸ and ۴.۷۲ g/L for DSB+۲۰% sugar beet, DSB+۲۰% Figs, and DSB, respectively. The maximum bioethanol production rate (Rm) was about ۲.۶۳۳ (g/L/h) in the case of DSB+۲۰% dates, which is higher compared to the other selected mixtures. The effect of some physical properties on the addition of ethanol/ETBE (Ethyl tertiary-butyl ether) to super-premium gasoline has been studied. It was found that the addition of ۲۰% ethanol or ETBE to super-premium gasoline increased the Research Octane Number from ۹۶ up to ۹۹.۳ and from ۹۶ up to ۹۹.۸ in the case of DSB+۲۰% dates and ETBE, respectively.

کلیدواژه ها:

Date-stems by-products ، Fermentation ، Natural sugars ، Bioethanol ، Octane Number ، ASTM distillation ، Sulphur content