Title: Artificial neural network modelling of xylose yield from water hyacinth by dilute sulphuric acid hydrolysis for ethanol production

Authors: Subhabrata Das; Anamica Bhattacharya; Amit Ganguly; Apurba Dey; Pradip K. Chatterjee

Addresses: Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur-713209, West Bengal, India ' Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur-713209, West Bengal, India ' Thermal Engineering Group, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur-713209, India ' Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur-713209, West Bengal, India ' Thermal Engineering Group, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur-713209, India

Abstract: Studies on dilute sulphuric acid pretreatment of water hyacinth for xylose yield was carried out with four independent parameters namely temperature, concentration, treatment time and residence time. Response surface methodology (RSM) was implemented to develop an experimental design matrix. Artificial neural network modelling was studied to develop and optimise the process based on the results obtained from the RSM design. The xylose yield under optimised condition obtained experimentally was 164.76 mg/g of dry water hyacinth biomass when hydrolysed with 4.89/ sulphuric acid, at 130°C operating temperature, residence time of 59.67 minutes and treatment time of ten minutes. Enzymatic saccharification was followed using a cocktail of cellulase and xylanase enzyme, which resulted in a total reducing sugar yield of 396.34 mg/g which followed fermentation. A substantial yield of 6.84 g/L of ethanol was obtained using P. stipitis the hydrolysate derived from hydrolysis.

Keywords: water hyacinth; ANNs; artificial neural networks; modelling; xylose yield; dilute sulphuric acid; hydrolysis; ethanol production; enzymatic saccharification; fermentation; biomass; sugar yield; temperature; concentration; treatment time; residence time; response surface methodology; RSM; biofuels; experimental design; P. stipitis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2016.077229

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2016 Vol.19 No.2, pp.150 - 166

Accepted: 08 Feb 2016
Published online: 24 Jun 2016 *

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