Project Abstract

Abstract
Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on Earth and a key component of biomass. Understanding the kinetics of cellulose hydrolysis is crucial for various industrial applications including biofuel production. In this study, we investigated the kinetic behavior of cellulose hydrolysis using sawdust as a model substrate. The hydrolysis reaction was catalyzed by an acid catalyst under controlled temperature and pH conditions. The concentration of reducing sugars produced during the hydrolysis reaction was monitored over time using a spectrophotometric method. The kinetic parameters such as the rate constant and activation energy were determined by fitting the experimental data to kinetic models. The results showed that the hydrolysis of cellulose followed a first-order reaction kinetics with respect to the concentration of cellulose. The rate of hydrolysis was found to be dependent on the catalyst concentration and temperature. The activation energy for the hydrolysis reaction was calculated to be XX kJ/mol, indicating that the reaction requires a certain amount of energy input to proceed. The kinetic study provided insights into the mechanism of cellulose hydrolysis and can be used to optimize the process conditions for maximum sugar yield. This research contributes to the fundamental understanding of cellulose hydrolysis kinetics and has implications for the development of sustainable biofuel production processes.

Project Overview

This research project studied on the kinetics of hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose. The steps employed to achieve this project involved extraction of cellulose from sawdust and subsequently, hydrolysis of starch to simple sugar. This was followed by glucose analysis. Different experiments were conducted during acid hydrolysis to study the various acids on the hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose. The saw-dust was extracted from the wood by grinding using saw. The process used in the hydrolysis was acid hydrolysis in which two major inorganic acids (Hydrochloric and Sulfuric) were used at constant temperature of 80oC. During this experiment, it was observed that Hydrochloric acid hydrolyzed most, followed by Sulphuric acid. Finally, sugar analysis was carried out to determine the acid with the highest yield of glucose and the best acid for the hydrolysis. It was noticed that the yield of glucose was relatively high from HCl at 1.280% concentration, followed by H2SO4 at 0.940%. It was also seen from the graph that the absorbance yield increases as the glucose concentrations increases in terms of HCl. Therefore, the best acid for acid for acid hydrolysis is HCl