Alkaline Pretreatment on Sugarcane Bagasse for Bioethanol Production

Sugarcane bagasse is a lignocellulosic waste from sugar mills and agricultural processing. The aim of this research was evaluation of alkaline pretreatment on the chemical composition and structure of sugarcane bagasse. Pretreatment was conducted with cooking by sodium hydroxide. It was carried out at 12 L reactor with concentrations variation. Meanwhile, times variations were conducted for 15, 30, 40, and 45 minutes, respectively. Sugarcane bagasse characteristics before and after pretreatment have been analyzed by X-ray Diffraction and Fourier Transform Infra Red Spectrometer. The results showed that the lowest lignin content (7.16%) was the treatment by NaOH 1N for 30 minutes.