PRODUCTION OF BIOETHANOL FROM WATERMELON WASTE

ABSTRACT

Bioethanol fuel is mostly produced by the fermentation of sugar, although it can also be produced chemically as well. Biofuels are produced as from biowaste, plant extracts, sugar beets, grains. Fermentation of genetic fuel sources with significant quantities of carbohydrates or components that could be converted into sugar, such as starch or cellulose – to produce bioethanol which could also be utilised for petrol engines or domestic cooking. This project covers a study on the production on Bioethanol from watermelon waste. Watermelon waste was collected for the experiment from Temboga market located in Ikpobaokha, Edo state. The endocarp of the watermelon was separated from the rind by using a knife. The endocarp was weighed separately and recorded to be 108kg. The endocarp was then fed into a grinding machine and blended. Sieving was done to extract only the juice from the watermelon. 24g of brewer’s yeast was added to the juice obtained from the endocarp of the water melon and allowed to ferment. An experimental setup consisting of Copper coil, Copper coil extreme tap, Plastic tap, Temperature gauge, Pressure cooker was locally sourced and setup for the distillation of the extracted watermelon juice. The result showed that the initial pH of 4.8 changed to 3.5 at the end of the experiment. This proves that fermentation was taking place accordingly and it ranged from 4.80 – 3.50. The sugar content ranged from 4.9% to 2.0%. The reason for this change was due to fermentation of the watermelon juice. Refractive index was gotten to be 1.3567 for the first distillation and 1.3626, further affirming the quality of the bioethanol