Thomas, Toji (2017) Ethanol production from lignocellulosic material (bagasse) using mechanical pulverization as pre-treatment. Coursework Masters thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
The ever-increasing consumption of non-renewable fossil fuel has triggered an awareness among most countries to develop renewable and sustainable forms of energy, especially from biomass. As an alternative, production of ethanol from lignocellulosic material, such as bagasse is getting more attention these days and could be a perfect solution to the rapidly growing fuel crisis. Bagasse, being an agricultural residue, is a sustainable and inexpensive resource for large quantity ethanol production. The ethanol produced from bagasse is also cleaner when compared to conventional fossil fuels, thereby reducing the green gas emission and atmospheric pollution. But due the rigid structure of the bagasse, its usability is limited. So effective pre-treatment must be undertaken to maximize the ethanol production.
In this research, the attempt is to compare ethanol yields from different bagasse samples of varying particle size that are exposed to different pre-treatments. The bagasse is milled to different particle size and its surface topography is studied under microscope. Ball milling and normal grinding are utilised to pulverise sugarcane bagasse. These different sized bagasse samples are exposed to fermentation to determine the ethanol yield. Three different batches of bagasse samples; un-treated, acid treated and alkali treated are utilised for this research.
Ethanol production from each batch is analysed and results are drawn. Bagasse structure and composition, various pre-treatment methods, and the effect of fermentation process were studied and presented in this thesis. Literature review on existing pre-treatment methods is also conducted. Ethanol yield from each bagasse sample after fermentation were analysed using two different methods; calculating the amount of ethanol from CO2 produced and by gas chromatography. Numerous experiments were conducted. Results showed an increased ethanol production for bagasse sample with lowest particle size in each batch exposed to fermentation.
|
Statistics for this ePrint Item |
| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Coursework Masters) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address. |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - No Department (1 Jul 2013 -) |
| Supervisors: | Hamawand, Ihsan |
| Qualification: | Master of Engineering Sciences (Mechanical Engineering) |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Jul 2026 04:15 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Jul 2026 04:15 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | fossil fuels, bagasse particle size, milling, fermentation, pre-treatments, bio-ethanol production. |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/53258 |
Actions (login required)
 |
Archive Repository Staff Only |
