OPTIMIZATION OF NUTRIENT MEDIUM FOR THE PRODUCTION OF BIOETHANOL FROM RICE HUSK USING SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE

Authors: *Amenaghawon N.A, Osakue I.Y, Ebewele E.O, Ehidiamhen S.E

DOI Info: N/A

ABSTRACT

In this study, the composition of nutrients in the fermentation medium for the production of bioethanol from rice husk using Saccharomyces cerevisiae was optimised using a four variable central composite design (CCD) coupled with response surface methodology (RSM). The nutrient investigated were yeast extract, ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), glucose and potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4). The CCD was used to generate a statistical model for predicting the optimal levels of the nutrients. Results obtained from analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the model was statistically significant (p<0.0001) with a low standard deviation (0.097) and a high coefficient of determination (R²=0.985). The optimum values of yeast extract, NH4NO3, glucose and KH2PO4 from RSM were 0.87 g/L, 0.16 g/L, 8.00 g/L and 0.03 g/L respectively. Under these conditions, the ethanol concentration was obtained as 3.41%v/v. Validation of the statistical model indicated no significant difference between experimental observations and model prediction. The observed results indicate the viability of rice husk as a biofuel feedstock and corroborates the efficiency of CCD in determining the accurate values of the nutrients where maximum production of ethanol occurs.

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