Bioethanol production from different Matooke peels species: A surprising source for alternative fuel

Abstract

Conversion of agro-industrial wastes to energy is an innovative technique for waste valorization and management which reduces exhaust emissions and offers socioeconomic benefits. The goal of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of producing bioethanol from a renewable and sustainable energy resource which is matooke species peels through a fermentation process using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The properties of the bioethanol were measured according to relevant ASTM standards and compared, and analyzed by gas chromatography. The results shows that the bioethanol yield for the two samples through fermentation process was found to be 71.54 g/L for the Mbwazirume variety and 70.57 g/L for the Nakyinyika variety, and the selected parameters have a strong correlation with the ethanol yield, as analyzed by ANOVA. In conclusion, matooke bioethanol properties are within the acceptable range of standard ethanol and gasoline. These matooke bioethanol can be used in the development of further experiments on performance and exhaust emissions test in spark-ignition (SI) engines. Keywords: Agro-industrial waste, Exhaust emissions, Bioethanol, Matooke peels, Spark-ignition (SI) engines