Abstract

EXTRACTION OF CELLULOSE AND BIOFUEL PRODUCTION FROM GROUNDNUT SHELLS AND ITS APPLICATION TO INCREASE CROP YIELD

Tejas Suryawanshi, Vineetha Nair, Pratima Patel and Annika Durve Gupta*

ABSTRACT

India is the second largest producer of groundnuts. Groundnut shells which remain as a waste after the separation of groundnut seeds is mostly dumped or burned. They can be used as a renewable source of energy. Fossil fuels are non renewable sources of energy which needs an alternative. In present study groundnut shells were collected from Mirewadi village in Maharashtra. They were cleaned, dried, powdered and used for biofuel production. Pure culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used for fermentation of the hydrolysate with an addition of peptone as protein source. MIC of alcohol and glucose for S.cerevisiae was carried out. Aliquots were removed at different time intervals and subjected to distillation. Distilled samples were subjected to glucose and ethanol estimation by DNSA and Dichromate method respectively. The yield of alcohol was found to be highest on 4th day of fermentation. Cellulose was extracted from groundnut shell powder. Muffle furnace was used to make ash of groundnut shells and used to check its applications to increase crop yield.

Keywords: Acid hydrolysis, Fermentation, Biofuel production, distillation, ethanol estimation, cellulose extraction.