Utilization of Waste Banana for Bioethanol Production to Replace Methanol in Biodiesel Process

The current study investigates the possibility of substituting bioethanol for short-chain alcohols in the production of biodiesel via a fermentation process using waste bananas. For one week, waste bananas from a local market were fermented with S.cerevisiae (Baker's yeast) to generate ethanol that contained 8% bioethanol. A triple distillation process resulted in a product that was 95% pure bioethanol. Molecular sieves were used to absorb the remaining water in bioethanol as a dehydration step. Pure bioethanol was added to create potassium ethoxide, which is used to make biodiesel. After washing, 81.17% of biodiesel was produced. The viscosity, flash point, density, and acid value of the biodiesel were compared to those of biodiesel made with potassium methoxide and potassium ethoxide, respectively. All parameters are within ASTM specifications, demonstrating that bioethanol produced from waste banana fermentation is an excellent short-chain alcohol substitute for biodiesel production.