Technology selection for rice straw-based second-generation bioethanol production in West Java

Production of bioethanol from the abundant sources of agroindustrial cellulose has the potential to reduce world dependency on fossil fuel and, at the same time, represent a potentially negative environmental impact. Cellulose makes up nearly half of all plant biomass. Therefore, cellulosic ethanol may be the most potent source of biofuel in the near future. Rice straw is one of the most abundant lignocellulose materials in Indonesia. This study examines technology selection for rice straw-based second-generation bioethanol production. Selected possible process alternatives for bioethanol production are discussed in this work. Physical, chemical, and biological pretreatments, as well as a combination of those pretreatment processes, are elaborated in this study. The process chosen is process D, biomass-gasification - synthetic catalytic process - ethanol. In this alternative, the main processes are gasification and synthetic catalytic. Overall, fluidized bed reactors have more significant potential for use with biomass conversion than fixed bed reactors or other types of gasifiers. The gasification of carbonaceous biomass occurs via three main reactions, partial oxidation, complete oxidation, and the water-gas reaction.