Integration of banana crop residues as biomass feedstock into conventional production of first‐generation fuel ethanol from sugarcane: a simulation‐based case study

Abstract

Sugar‐based feedstock of banana crop residues (pseudostem, peel, and rejected fruits) were integrated into first‐generation sugarcane ethanol production through simulated proposals using Aspen Hysys®. Different contents of sugars (6.5, 10, 15, 20, and 22 wt%) in the concentrated broth from banana residues were evaluated. The increase in sugar content in the broth led to an increase of 25% in the energy requirement of the evaporation stage. However, there was a reduction up to 55.31% in the energy requirement of the ethanol recovery stage with 22 wt% of sugar content. Addition of residue broth of 6.5, 10 and 15 wt% until the sugarcane broth is diluted by 20 wt% led to an increase in fermentation volume of 14.3, 19.2 and 39.7%, and an increase in ethanol productivity of 4.1, 7.9 and 26.1%, respectively. The integration of banana crop residues for a scaled‐up process showed technical viability, producing 21.97 ton h–1 of ethanol 99.50 wt%, although energy requirements of biomass pretreatment steps are still a limiting factor for the industry. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Production of first- and second-generation ethanol for use in alcohol-based hand sanitizers and disinfectants in India

“…The widely used and promising LCBs well studied for 2G ethanol production are sugarcane tops and bagasse, rice straw, wheat straw, other cereal residues, residues of other crops such as cotton and chilli cultivation, forest residues such as bamboo, rye, pine needles, banana stem, sunflower stalk, stem of sweet sorghum, and weeds like Saccharum spontaneum, Eicchornia crassipes, Prosopis juliflora, and Lantana camara with ethanol generating potential of 5.42 billion liters of ethanol considering 50% conversion rate [10,[91][92][93][94][95][96]. Sugarcane top is the most abundant agro-residue with annual production of 79.4 million mega ton (MMT), and is always burnt in the field itself [10].…”