UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

GROUP ASSIGNMENT 1

SEMESTER II

SESSION 2018/2019

GROUP 7

Topic: Bioethanol Production Plant

PROGRAMME : 3 BNN

COURSE NAME : PROCESS PLANT AND EQUIPMENT DESIGN

COURSE CODE : BNQ 30204

LECTURER’S NAME : DR NUR HANIS HAYATI BINTI HAIROM

STUDENT’S NAME MATRIC NO.

Muhammad Luqman Bin Yusof DN160341

Nurul Aimi Farhana Binti Azhari AN160009

Nur Amira Binti Dol Ramli AN160004

Chan Khai Wen AN160216

Syaza Syazeera Binti Zahid DN160346

Dyg Nur Afiqah Binti Abang Mustapha DN160271

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Bioethanol 3
1.2 Uses of Bioethanol 4
1.3 Raw Materials
1.3.1 Source of Raw Materials 5

CHAPTER 2 PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM

2.1 Description for Process Flow Diagram 6-8

CHAPTER 3 UNDERSTANDING PROCESS CONDITIONS

3.1 Understanding Process Description 9
3.2 Bioethanol Manufacturing Steps 10-16

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CHAPTER 4 PLANT IMPROVEMENT PLANNING
4.1 Diluted Acid Steam Explosion 17-18
4.2 Recycle of Clarified Washing Water as Cooling Water 19-22

CONCLUSION 23-24
REFERENCES 25-26

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 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Bioethanol

In terms of organic chemistry, bioethanol (C2H5OH) or ethyl alcohol is an alcohol

conformation that recently has emerged as a renewable bio-energy, biodegradable clear-colorless
liquid, ecofriendly potential fuel to power automotive engines, as well as a potential petrol
substitute for road transport vehicles (Hossain, 2017). Usually, bioethanol is synthesized from
alcoholic fermentation of sucrose or simple sugars of diverse types of biomass, either from
feedstock or non-feedstock sources (Onwuakor, 2017).

Furthermore, the properties of bioethanol where at ambient temperatures and pressures, it

is a clear, colorless liquid and it is relatively volatile and can typically be identified by its noticeable
and characteristic of alcoholic odor (Schrilla, 2015). Other than that, it is a relatively low freezing
point (-114°C), low boiling point (78°C), and low density liquid at 0.789g/mL (Schrilla, 2015).
When compared between bioethanol and water in terms of their properties, ethanol and water are
commonly mixed and are very miscible due to their similar intermolecular forces. Both molecules
contain hydroxyl (-OH) groups which increase polarity and allow for hydrogen bonding.

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 The hydroxyl group is also an important factor in most chemical reactions involving
bioethanol where it functions as a reactive site in organic reactions such as dehydration,
dehydrogenation and esterification. From these types of reaction, bioethanol can be used mostly
for industrial chemical feedstocks such as ethylene and acetaldehyde. Moreover, the pure
bioethanol should be stored and transported separately from other reactive organic compounds and
metals in order to avoid side reactions that produce undesirable byproducts.

Bioethanol are highly flammable as its flash point is 14°C, its vapor concentrations as low
as 3.3% by volume are potentially explosive (Schrilla, 2015). So, in order to avoid risk of
explosion, it should be stored at lower temperatures and kept away from any source of ignition.
Furthermore, even though bioethanol vapors are typically not toxic, but the liquid doses as low as
75-80g can cause intoxication (Schrilla, 2015).

1.2 Uses of Bioethanol

Generally, ethanol has three major applications which are the fuel ethanol, beverage
ethanol, and industrial ethanol. Fuel ethanol is blended with gasoline for use as motor fuel.
Beverage ethanol is used to produce beer, wine, and other spirits. Industrial ethanol is a chemical
feedstock typically used to produce pharmaceutical products and polymers (Schrilla, 2015).
Currently, the sharp increase in the price of petroleum products, the finite nature of fossil fuels,
growing concerns especially related to greenhouse gas emissions and health safety considerations
have resulted in increased search for new energy sources and alternatives to power the worlds
motor vehicles as well as generating electricity.

Bioethanol is a clean-burning renewable resource that can be produced from fermented

cellulose biomass. Bioethanol does not add to a net carbon dioxide atmosphere increase thus these
is no contribution to global warming. Combustion of ethanol results in relatively low emissions of
volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides (Hossain, 2017).

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 Bioethanol can act as biofuel substitutes for fossil fuels that could diminish the combined
ill-effects of air, soil, water pollution and the global warming. Due to impending exhaustion of
fossil fuels, our world desperately requires biofuel replacement for oil in the future. Bioethanol
can help in reducing the carbon dioxide emissions and improving the air quality. Lastly, bioethanol
act as renewable energy sources to partly substitute oil and limiting the risk of climate change
(Schrilla, 2015).

The main objective of this project is to design a process capable of transforming rice husk
and straw into bioethanol through gas fermentation. The project is aimed to contribute to the
ongoing investigation on improving and modifying the process of the plant. They are variety of
production reactions of bioethanol such as saccharification, fermentation, distillation and
separation. The most sustainable and economically reaction processes will be chosen for the plant
design. This includes the comparison between the cost of raw materials, safety, environmental
impacts, percentage yield of conversion, energy consumption, and other factors that might affect
the reaction process.

1.3 Raw Materials

1.3.1 Source of Raw Materials

The raw material that is utilized in this process is rice husk and rice straw. Rice is the most
important grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth
of the calories consumed worldwide by humans (Onwuakor, 2017). Genetic evidence has shown
that rice originates from a single domestication 8,200-13,500 years ago in the Pearl River valley
region of China (Onwuakor, 2017). Rice is the agricultural commodity with the third highest
worldwide production after sugarcane and maize (Schrilla, 2015).

Production of bioethanol from biomass has become an increasingly popular alternative to

gasoline. Rice husk has several characteristics that make it a potential feedstock for biofuel
production. It has high cellulose and hemicellulose content that can be readily hydrolyzed into
fermentable sugars (Onwuakor, 2017). Ethanol-fermenting microorganism can utilize these sugars
and convert into ethanol.

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 CHAPTER 2

PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM

Figure 2.0: Process flow diagram for overall bioethanol production plant

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2.1 Description for Process Flow Diagram

For the production of bioethanol, the raw material that use is rice straw. The rice straw will
enter the preliminary treatment. First, magnetic separator will take place, which act as a machine
that uses a magnetic force to separate magnetically susceptible materials. Then, mill and shredder
will take place to remove material by advancing a cutter into a work piece. Next, it will enter the
vibrating screen which act as separating the feeds that containing solid and crushed ores down in
size, which are applicable in wet and dried feed. After that, it will enter the wash water tank which
provide efficient cleaning and storing of the re-used water by using the conveyor. It is used to
transport material into processing equipment and back out again.

In treatment of wash water effluents and recycling facility including polyelectrolyte

preparation & injection, it is the process water discharges calls for special treatment of water before
release into the environment or recycling into the plant again. Polyelectrolyte act to impart a
surface charge to neutral particles, enabling them to be dispersed in aqueous solution (Ahmad
Rabiee, 2015). This involves removal of bacteria, viruses, algae, dissolved mineral, dissolved
organic matter and suspended solids of the water.

Next, it will enter the clarifier process which is the first part of conventional treatment for
waste and surface water treatment. It usually consists in screening. The product then will enter
the filter cake to solid disposal. The compacted solid or semisolid material remaining on
a filter after pressure filtration will reduces the amount of waste going to landfill and helps prevent
environmental contamination.

Furthermore, the fine straw from washing tank will enter the slurry tank and will further the
process of alkali treatment, including treatment of fine straw slurry with NaOH of a concentration
of 10 g/l at 90 C, for 1 hr. The treatment is run in closed agitated jacketed vessels using steam for
heating. The method of alkali treatment is be composed of soak the straw in dilute alkali solutions
for 24 hours and then washing it with clean water. Straw digestibility is increased from about 40
to about 70%. It has not been much used although this process has been known for 50 years since
the treatment costs are too high (M.G.Jackson, 1977). The alkali treatment products are filtered,
and the remaining straw is washed with water and acetic acid then filtered.

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 The filtrate is directed to waste water treatment plant (WWTP). The filter cake will be
transferred to SSF. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) is a process for
bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass. High glucan loading for hydrolysis and fermentation is
an efficient approach to reduce the capital costs for the production of bio-based product (Liu, Zhi-
Hua & Qin, Lei & Zhu, Jia-Qing & Li, Bing-Zhi & Yuan, Ying-Jin,2014).

SSF section which includes the slurry of pre-treated rice straw cake using treated water,
pumping of slurry to SSF reactors. Buffer solution is prepared (for pH regulation) and transferred
to SSF reactors. The yeast is provided in a separate breeding and growing unit prior to feeding to
SSF reactors. SSF is conducted in jacketed stirred reactors where heating and cooling is affected
by steam and water. The SSF reaction content is partially retracted for treatment to remove alcohol
with pervaporation before being recycled to the SSF reactor (Tewfik, Abulnour & Sorour, 2015).

Pervaporation or pervaporative separation is a processing method for the separating the liquid
mixtures by partial vaporization through a non-porous or porous membrane (Ghoshna Jyoti, Amit
Keshav, and J. Anandkumar, 2015). The retentate is also recycled to SSF reactor while alcohol
rich stream is directed to the distillation. The SSF reactor contents are collected in holding tank
and filtered. Filter dry cake is used as fuel in the boilers. The filtrate is pumped to alcohol
distillation and purification system.

Distillation and pervaporation section include holding tanks for filtered raw alcohol solutions,
feeding pumps for distillation unit, distillation comprising column, pre-heater, condenser and
pumps for alcohol and residue transfer. The concentrated alcohol (90% concentration) is directed
to 90% alcohol tanks. The alcohol is dried by pervaporation to alcohol concentration of 99% and
is pumped to alcohol storage tanks (Tewfik, Abulnour & Sorour, 2015).

Utilities section includes: steam-boilers provided with facilities for burning fossil fuel (gas or
diesel), dry rice straw and plant combustible wastes, water treatment facility for boilers and process
water, water cooling towers including circulation pumps and auxiliaries, fuel storage and handling
facility for movable machines, standby power generator and medium/low tension transformer
stations and standby diesel generators in addition to wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)(Tewfik,
Abulnour & Sorour, 2015).

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 CHAPTER 3

UNDERSTANDING PROCESS CONDITIONS

3.1 Understanding Process Description

The production of bioethanol involves the selection of processing operations to convert raw
materials to products, given that the states of the raw material and product streams are specified.

Process Description

Parameter Unit Raw To Mill Vibrating Washing Clarifier Filter

Material Magnetic Screen Water cake
Separator
Mass Flow Ton/day 200 0 570
Ton/hour 10 1.1 3
Volume Flow m3/hr - - - 50 10
Temperature ℃ 25
Density Kg/𝑚3 120 -
Power kW - 5.5 75 7.5 7.5 0.3 1.5
Consumption
Pressure bar 1 1
pH 7
Chemical - -
Adding
Volume m3 100

Table 3.1.1: The main plant processes comprise the following sections as mention at the Process
Flow Diagram before.

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3.2 Bioethanol Manufacturing Steps

3.2.1 Raw materials

Figure 3.2.1: The dry rice straw as raw materials.

The raw material is rice straw which is involving in handling system containing weighting
scale, unloading and transfer straw bales, and storage. Firstly, the rice straw is weighing about 30
ton, and transfer, unloading using forklift to bales conveyor which is can load 10 ton/hr with power
consumption 7.5kW.

Next, the rice straw is unwrapping using bales unwrapping conveyer which is can load 10
ton/hr with 5.5 kW power consumption. After unwrapping, the rice straw goes through to the
shredder feeding conveyor which is can load about 10 ton/hr with 4 kW power consumption. The
rice straw has bulk density about 50 – 120 kg/m3 and store at room temperature. The rice straw is
in dry condition.

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3.2.2 Magnetic Separator

Figure 3.2.2: The mechanism of the magnetic separator

Before the rice straw transfer to the shredder, the rice straw is pass through the magnetic separator
with 5.5 kW power consumption to removed unwanted materials that containing metal element.

3.2.3 Milling

Figure 3.2.3: The milling machine use for shred rice straw into grain
The rice straw is next went to mill process. the rice straw transfer about 10 t/hr which is shred to
reduction size about lower than 2 mm with shredder 75kW of power consumption.

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3.2.4 Vibrating Screen

Figure 3.2.4: The figure above shows vibrating screen

The vibrating screen is separating coarse and fine rice straw when passing through it. It is can load
1.1 ton/hr with machine operate at 7.5 kW.

3.2.5 Washing
Next, the fine rice straw is going to washing process which is can load about 20 t/hr, with 11 kW
power consumption on the conveyor. In this process, it is containing 200m3 of wash water tank
and wash water pump that can pump 50m3/hr with 4 kW power consumption.

3.2.6 Clarifier

Figure 3.2.6: The figure above shows a small clarifier

After washing, the rice straw is entering clarifier for continuous removal of solids being deposited
by sedimentation. It can be load about 100 m3 capacity with sludge scraper (0.3 kW) and for the
sludge pump can pump about 10 m3/hr at 3 kW.

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3.2.7 Filter Cake

Figure 3.2.7 : Figure above shows the mechanism of the filter cake process

To increase the purity of the rice straw, next, the rice straw is going through the filter cake which
is insoluble material left on the filter which is 3 ton/hr at 1.5 kW.

3.2.8 Slurrying

Figure 3.2.8: It shows the rice straw being collected

For this process, slurrying is the part where the rice straw is collected and washed then
pumped into the vessels for the next process which is alkali treatment. A slurry is a thin and viscous
fluid mixture composed of a pulverized solid and a liquid. Slurries flow under gravity, can be
pumped if not too thick, and are often used as a convenient way of handling solids in bulk. In other
words, this part of the process is basically wet rice straw that can be pumped into vessels as it is
not too solid nor too liquid. This part has mass flow of 1840 ton/hour and a volume flow of
100m3/hour. The power consumption of this unit is 11kW.

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3.2.9 Alkali treatment

Figure 3.2.9 shows the detailed process of alkali treatment

After slurrying, the pumped slurry into the vessels will undergo alkali treatment. For this
part, the straw slurry will be treated with sodium hydroxide NaOH with a concentration of 10 g/l
at 90 C, for 1 hour. It is treated in closed jacketed vessels with agitation and used steam for heating
purposes. The products for units will then be filtered and will be washed with water and acetic
acid.

3.2.10 Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP)

After the slurry has been washed with water and acetic acid, the products will once again
be filtered. The filtrate will then move to the waste water treatment plant while the filter cake is
directed to the next unit.

3.2.11Washing

Before that, the slurry with a mass flow of 240 ton/hour will be washed with acetic acid
and water. Acetic acid is pumped with the power consumption of 1.5kw while the power consumed
by the pumped water is 7.5kW. This process is conducted to proceed with the next unit as the
slurry will be pumped to SSF reactors.

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3.2.12 Fermentation

Figure 3.2.12 shows the mechanisms of fermentation

For this unit, yeast is prepared beforehand in a separate breeding and growing unit before
it moves to SSF reactors with a mass flow of 5.8 ton/hour. This part of the process is conducted in
jacketed stirred reactors which contains steam and water for heating and cooling purposes with a
power consumption of 30kW as for the largest tank.

3.2.13 Pervaporation

Figure 3.2.13: It shows the schematic diagram of pervaporation process

Some of the products from previous unit is continuously withdrawn with a mass flow of
300 ton/hour for alcohol removal treatment by pervaporation before it is recycled to SSF reactor.
The retentate is also recycled to SSF reactor while the rich stream of alcohol with a maximum
temperature of 80 C is then transferred to the distillation column with the pressure of 3 bar.

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3.2.14 Filtration
The filtration unit with a mass flow of 1428 ton/hour operated with max temperature of 90 C and
consumed 5.5kw of power. The products of SSF reactor will be collected in holding tanks and
filtered.

3.2.15 Solid cake to steam generation

The filtered dry cake from previous unit with a mass flow of 1410 ton/hour is then used as fuel in
the boilers in this unit for the production of steam from the dry cake. The filtrate will then be
pumped to alcohol distillation and the purification system to purify the products.

3.2.16 Distillation

Figure 3.2.16: It shows the detailed process of distillation

The distillation unit consists of the distillation and pervaporation section where filtered raw
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alcohol solutions with a mass flow of 67.7 ton/hour and volume flow of 100m /hour are
transferred into holding tanks, feeding pumps to distillation unit, distillation comprising column,
pre-heater, condenser and pumps for transfer of alcohol and residue with the power consumption
of 10kw. This unit also directed 90% concentration of condensed alcohol to 90% alcohol tanks.
Pervaporation in this unit is conducted to dry the alcohol to reach the concentration of 99% and
then will be pumped to the storage tanks.

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 CHAPTER 4

PLANT IMPROVEMENT PLANNING

4.1 Diluted Acid Steam Explosion

There are four distinct stages in producing bioethanol, pre-treatment of feedstock,

saccharification, fermentation and recovery of bioethanol by distillation and separation. Pre-
treatment is the process where the dried and shredded feedstock delignified (Felipe Scott1, 2013).
Saccharification process will hydrolyze the cellulose to glucose that will later be fermented and
producing bioethanol. Bioethanol produced need to obtained from the fermented broth by
distillation separation process (Shadia Tewfik, November 2015).

Figure 4.1.1: Bioethanol lignocellulosic biomass process configurations (i) Separate Hydrolysis &
Fermentation (SHF) (ii) Simultaneous Saccharification & Fermentation (SSF) (iii) Simultaneous
Saccharification & Co-Fermentation (SSCF) (iv) Consolidated Bioprocessing (CBP).

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 In order to yield maximum production, the first step of production needs to be chosen
properly. Pretreatment methods are commonly used are acid treatment, base treatment,
hydrothermal treatment and Ammonia Fiber Expansion and lime treatment (AFEX). Each of the
methods has advantages and disadvantage. After weighing the possibilities and the benefit. The
modification will be executed on the pretreatment stage. (Felipe Scott1, 2013)

From the proposed plant, in the pretreatment stages, the method used to treat the feedstock
is by using alkali treatment. (Shadia Tewfik, November 2015) The process includes alkali
treatment, including fine washed straw slurrying, pumping of the slurry to treatment vessels, alkali
treatment, including treatment of fine straw slurry with NaOH of a concentration of 10 g/l at 90 C,
for 1 hr. The treatment is conducted in closed agitated jacketed vessels using steam for heating.
(M.G.Jackson, 1977) The alkali treatment products are filtered, and the delignified straw is washed
with water and acetic acid then filtered. The filtrate is directed to wastewater treatment plant
(WWTP). The filter cake is transferred to SSF section. The sugar yield after this pretreatment is
49% (w/w).

The modification that planned for the plant is by using explosion reactor in this case steam
explosion and the biomass will be treated with diluted sulphuric acid. Steam explosion was
introduced in 1926 in production of pulp from wood and later it was used in bioethanol and biogas
production. (Jian Zhang, 2015) The configuration of the reactor includes a pressure vessel, steam
or chemical inlet and a fast-open valve. After the lignocellulosic biomass is loaded the reactor will
be heated up to desired temperature and pressure. Then the biomass will be release quickly at the
speed 1/100s to initiate the explosion. It was achieved by pouring overheated liquid over hot vapor.
(Jian Zhang, 2015)

The loading can be conducted from 20% to 50% of the biomass load. The explosion breaks
the lignocellulose structure and breakdown the lignin shell and recrystallize the cellulose into
amorphous cellulose. (Felipe Scott1, 2013) The process releases acetic acid from hydration of
acetyl group catalyzed partial degradation of cellulose. Addition of acid like sulphuric acid to the
biomass that needs to be treated will increase the efficiency and shorten the process time and
temperature. (Moniruzzaman) found that at 3.53 MPa for 2 minutes increase the porosity of the
substances hence the reaction with enzyme will react faster. From other research, the highest
recorded sugar yield from the process is 95%.

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 Steam explosion method was chosen to pretreat the lignocellulosic biomass because it does
not use concentrated chemical that has bad implication to the environment, the process also saved
time compared to treat the biomass with acid or base that usually take hours. (Mustafa Vohra a,
2013) Besides that, after treating the biomass with acid, to neutralize lime was added to the
solution. But the consequences are it generates gypsum (solid waste). Biomass that undergo steam
explosion has better susceptibility towards enzyme. hence, higher sugar yield (Banerjee, 2017).

4.2 Recycle of Clarified Washing Water as Cooling Water

The second part of the ethanol production plant from rice straw is called Rice-Straw
Preliminary Treatment. This process includes conveyors and shredders to reduce the size of rice
straw into less than 2 mm, continuous washing with water, fine washed straw conveyors and
treatment of wash water effluents.

The recycling facility is included in the Rice-Straw Preliminary Treatment which made up
of polyelectrolyte preparation and injection, clarification, pumping in addition to sludge
dewatering and transfer as a waste. (Tewfik , Abulnour, & Sorour, 2015) The part to be modified
in Rice-Straw Preliminary Treatment is the usage of clarified washing water as the cooling water
with water cooling system.

Plant-based waste biomass can be differentiated as two types of biomass either a dry
biomass or a wet biomass. The example of wet biomass including leafy and trunk-based
agricultural or forest biomass, grass, municipal waste such as kitchen waste and various types of
raw plants. Meanwhile, the example of dry biomass including rice straw, rice husk, coconut shells.
The biomass used in this ethanol production plant is rice straw to produce 20,000 ton/y of ethanol.
Different types of biomass require different procedures and pre-treatments. (Hossain, Zaini, &
Mahlia, 2017)

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 Figure4.2.1: Bioethanol production from first generation biomass

In Rice-Straw Preliminary Treatment, the major operation involves the preparation of the
rice-straw for fermentation in next section. The process of milling, liquefying, and starch
converting steps are included in Rice-Straw Preliminary Treatment. At first, fresh water is added
to the weighed rice straw for washing process. In this process, wasted wash water produced will
passed to a clarifier for clarification process. In the original plant design for ethanol production,
the filter cake will be collected and sent as solid disposal while the Filtrate 1 will be transferred to
wastewater treatment plant (WWTP).

To optimize the filtrate collected after the clarification process, the plant design for ethanol
production is modified to recycle the Filtrate 1 to be used as a cooling water in alkali treatment
vessel in alkali treatment which is the third part of the ethanol production plant from rice straw.
Alkali treatment includes fine washed straw slurrying, pumping of slurry to treatment vessels,
alkali treatment, including treatment of fine straw slurry with NaOH of a concentration of 10 g/l
at 90 ℃, for 1 hr. The treatment is carried out inside a closed agitated jacketed vessel and heated
by using steam. (Tewfik , Abulnour, & Sorour, 2015)

After the treatment inside the alkali treatment vessel, the high temperature of content needs
to be cooled down by cooling water in the original design of plant of ethanol production. In this
case, the plant is modified by using the Filtrate 1 as cooling water to cool down the temperature of
content before released into next stage instead of using new water as cooling water to optimize the
usage of wastewater thus reduce the usage of fresh water.

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 Hence, a new pipe will connect between the clarifier and alkali treatment vessel for the
transportation of Filtrate 1 as a new design for this plant of ethanol production. Since the fresh
water used to wash the rice straw is at room temperature of average 23℃, hence the Filtrate 1 will
maintain at the same temperature which is suitable to be used as a cooling water. There will be a
continuous flow of Filtrate 1 from clarifier to cool down the high temperature of content until it
reaches the desired lower temperature before released to the next stage. The Feasibility Study for
Small-Scale Ethanol Production in Minnesota state the general wastewater discharge in the unit of
gallons/year. (Aden, 2017)

Parameter 100,000-yr 1-mmgy 2-mmgy

Water (gallons/yr) 668,000 6,777,000 13,554,000
Wastewater (gallons/yr) 57,000 570,000 1,140,000
Table 4.2.2: Wastewater Discharge from Proposed Facilities (Aden, 2017)

In order to reduce the usage of new water and amount of wastewater produced, the process
plant of ethanol production is modified. After the Filtrate 1 being used as cooling water, the
temperature will increase, hence it will be released to wastewater treatment plant. Then, the alkali
treatment products inside the alkali treatment vessel are filtered. The delignified straw will be
washed with water and acetic acid then filtered. The Filtrate 2 is directed to wastewater treatment
plant (WWTP). The filter cake is transferred to Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation
(SSF) section. (Tewfik , Abulnour, & Sorour, 2015)

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 CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, the utilization of rice husk and rice straw as dry biomass for bioethanol
production necessitates the production technology to be cost effective and environmentally
sustainable. Biological conversion of waste into fermentable sugars, employing microorganisms
and hydrolyzing enzymes is at present the most attractive alternative due to environmental
concerns. Rice husk appears a promising and potent candidate for production of bioethanol due to
its abundant availability and attractive composition. Throughout the plant operation, the
production of bioethanol which consist of basic operations such as pre-treatment of feedstock,
saccharification, fermentation and recovery of bioethanol by distillation and separation.

As mentioned, an instrument named magnetic separator will used the magnetic force to
separate magnetically rice husk and rice straw with other impurities. Other than that, in order to
separate the feeds and other materials effectively, the raw feeds will enter the vibrating screen
which are applicable in wet and dried feed. Other than that, as for product separation, simple
distillation and pervaporation is the selected method due to the maturity of the technology.

Furthermore, the original method used to treat the feedstock is by using alkali treatment to
yield maximum production. But, for further improvement planning, it is suggested to treat the raw
materials by using explosion reactor in this case steam explosion, where the biomass will be treated
with diluted sulphuric acid. As a result, steam explosion method was chosen to pretreat the
lignocellulosic biomass because it does not use concentrated chemical that has bad implication to
the environment and reduce the time consumption.

In addition, the second improvement for the plant is the recycling of clarified washing
water as cooling water. At this stage, the process occurs at the rice straw preliminary treatment
which made up of polyelectrolyte preparation and injection, clarification, pumping in addition to
sludge dewatering and transfer as a waste. After going some specific process, in order to improve
the optimization of the process, the filtrate collected after the clarification process, the plant design
for ethanol production is modified to recycle the Filtrate 1 to be used as a cooling water in alkali
treatment vessel.

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 Bioethanol production from plant-based waste biomass by yeast fermentation is projected
as successful and realistic approach for novel biofuel innovation and optimization by biomass
experts all over the world. Significant numbers of commercial industries successfully scaled up
their bioethanol generation projects from plant-based feedstocks and initialized a novel source of
alternative fuel production and utilization in the market. Additionally, modern motor vehicles run
perfectly on bioethanol blends without any engine modification that has led to a cleaner
environment and energy-savings.

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1.Banerjee, A. A. (2017). Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation of Lignocellulosic

Biomass.

2.Felipe Scott1, 2. ·. (2013). Process design and sustainability in the production of bioethanol from.

3.Jairam Choudhary, S. S. (2016). Thermotolerant fermenting yeasts for simultaneous

saccharification.

4.Jian Zhang, W. H. (2015). Reactors for High Solid Loading.

5.M.G.Jackson. (1977). Review article: The alkali treatment of straws. Pantnagar,India.

6.Mamatha Devarapalli, H. K. (2015). A review of conversion processes for bioethanol production

with a focus on syngas.

7.Moniruzzaman, M. (n.d.). Effect of steam explosion on the physicochemical properties and

enzymatic saccharification of rice straw.

8.Mustafa Vohra a, ,. J. (2013). environmental chemistry. Bioethanol production: Feedstock and

current technologies.

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12. Bioethanol production from rice straw residues. (2010, January 1). Retrieved from
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14. Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation of Soybean
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