Bioethanol Production from Sorghum Sap Through Fermentation Process
Agnia Pramesty, Dena Tresna Ningsih, Nelly Joy Christi Simanjuntak, Putri Ananda, Omay Sumarna, Lala Septem Riza

Jl. Dr. Setiabudhi No. 229 Bandung 40154
Jawa Barat - Indonesia, Indonesian University of Education, agniawap[at]upi.edu, denatresna[at]upi.edu, nellyjoy[at]upi.edu, putriananda57[at]upi.edu, sumarna[at]hotmail.com, lala.s.riza[at]upi.edu

Abstract

Sorghum is a cereal type plant from Africa, the stems contain sap which can be used to make bioethanol. This study aims to investigate the utilization of sorghum sap into bioethanol by fermentation process as well as to determine the maximum or optimum point of alcohol content produced by bioethanol. In this experiment, the independent variable used is the variation of fermentation time and the amount of yeast used in the fermentation process and the dependent variable is the alcohol content produced. This experiment was start by mixing the sap water with a mixture of yeast, urea, sugar and water in a certain amount and fermented for a certain time, then the results of the fermentation were distilled and measured the alcohol content. Experiments 1 and 2 show that the alcohol content continues to increase from the fermentation period of 36 hours, 48 hours, 60 hours, 72 hours, but at the fermentation time of 84 hours the alcohol content has decreased and when all the distillations are combined then distilled again, the alcohol content increases. In conclusion, the optimum point of alcohol is at the 72 hours fermentation time and the addition of the yeast dose only affects the amount of ethanol produced but does not change the level, the alcohol content produced cannot be made into bioethanol because the alcohol content is still low so it is necessary to carry out repeated distillation to achieve high alcohol content.

Keywords: Sorghum, bioethanol, alcohol, fermentation and distillation.

Topic: STEM Education