Influence of ultrasonic power on the hydrolysis of cellulosic and hemicellulosic material of banana waste: a facilitator process to obtain bioethanol

Abstract

Brazil is one of the South America's countries with a large demand for biomass from agriculture which can be used in the production of biofuels such as biodiesel and ethanol. The banana plant is a major generator of biomass energy after the sugar cane and orange bagasse. Currently, large amounts of resources are invested to develop new technologies in the exploitation of these residues for ethanol production; second generation processes such as enzymatic hydrolysis are generating great expectations, achieving significant results in the area. To better develop the field of hydrolysis of cellulosic material, it is important to employ technologies that can increase the hydrolysis reaction rate and yield. One of these alternatives is the application of non-polluting technologies such as ultrasonic power. This project aims to describe the application of power ultrasound on the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic material from the waste of banana plant (stalk and peel), to its possible application in the production of ethanol. The influence of ultrasound power on the structure of cellulosic banana waste and enzymatic hydrolysis will be studied in a bench scale reactor and in a pilot scale bioreactor coupled to an ultrasonic system. The acoustic energy transferred, the sonic velocity, the acoustic intensity, among other properties will be used in the modeling and simulation of the optimum conditions for enzymatic hydrolysis of banana waste (stalk and peel) in a bioreactor system with ultrasound to provide important information for future applications of ultrasound technology in the bioethanol industry. (AU)