Alkaline Pretreatment Optimization of Tobacco Stalks for Bioethanol Production

Abstract

The sustainable biomass production of fuels, chemicals, and other commercial products from lignocellulosic materials has received widespread attention. One of the potential biomass resources to be developed into biofuels is tobacco stalks. Production of tobacco plants in East Java Province was 84,100 t, with the highest production from Pamekasan Regency at 13,520 t, followed by Jember Regency at 13,110 t. This shows that Jember Regency has the potential to develop tobacco stalks to produce biofuels because their availability is relatively abundant. One of the biofuels that can be produced from tobacco stalks is bioethanol. Bioethanol production has increased every year along with the increasing demand for bioethanol, so the bioethanol market opportunity is wide open and can strengthen the nation’s economy. Besides being used as a source of energy fulfilment, bioethanol is also needed as a raw material for production in the fields of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The increasing need for hand sanitizers during the Covid-19 pandemic has caused the need for bioethanol to increase. Pretreatment in this study was carried out using alkaline, namely NaOH, by varying the temperature and concentration. The purpose of this study was to find the optimum conditions for the pretreatment processes during the production of bioethanol. The optimum conditions in this study were a NaOH concentration of 6%, a temperature of 140 °C, and a rotational speed of 150 rpm with the yield of lignin 12.463%, cellulose 31.194%, and hemicellulose 3.172%.