EFFECT OF CATALYST CONCENTRATION AND THE MODELLING OF BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION FROM MANIHOT ESCULENTA TUBERS

Bioethanol is a clear, colourless liquid that is biodegradable and can be used as fuel additive. In this work the effect of catalyst concentration on bio - ethanol production was studied in order to obtain optimal yield. The ethanol was produced from manihot esculenta (cassava) tubers using yeast - catalyzed fermentation process followed by distillation. The reaction conditions were maintained at a constant fermentatio n time of 5 days while varying the amount of yeast catalyst added. The results obtained show that the pre - treatment yield of bioethanol ranged from 6 - 12.5%. Maximum bioethanol yield of 12.5% occurred at 2.1g of catalyst being used. Furthermore, modelling t he production process gives a second - orde r equation of the form: Y = - 2.392X 2 + 9.975X + 0.95, where Y is the predicted yield of ethanol and X, the mass of yeast catalyst added.