Ethanol Production from Waste of Cassava Processing

Cassava processing produces by-products such as brown bark, between bark, disposal, bran, fiber and bagasse. Cassava bagasse is characterized as a source of starch that can be converted into sugars to obtain biofuels. The objective of this work was to produce ethanol from this cassava processing residue and to evaluate its contribution potential in the Brazilian energy matrix. Cassava processing residues were obtained from four different starch manufacturers in Brazil. Analysis of the chemical compositions of these samples provided the content of starch, sugar, crude grease, moisture, ash and also their pH values. For the ethanol process, the samples were submitted to enzymatic hydrolysis using the alpha-amylase and amyloglucosidases enzymes, followed by fermentation and distillation. The samples showed high starch indices, approximately 64% on average. The average yield of ethanol obtained was 30% after treatment of the sample like this. Considering the estimated volume of cassava bagasse in Brazil, it is possible to produce an average of 789 million cubic meters per bagasse, replacing about 24% of the first generation ethanol. Cassava bagasse can be considered an interesting biomass for the production of biofuels, contributing to the expansion of the energy matrix.