Question

How is ethanol manufactured from sugarcane?

Answer 1

The fermentation method can be used to obtain ethanol from sugarcane. Actually, in industries, C₂H₅OH is prepared by the fermentation of molasses, which is a by-product obtained during the manufacture of sugar from sugarcane.
It is converted into ethanol by the following steps:

• Dilution of molasses
• Addition of nitrogen source
• Addition of yeast
• Distillation of wash.

Chemical Reductions:

\[\ce{\underset{\text{Sugar}}{C12H22O11} + H2O->[Invertase]\underset{\text{Glucose}}{C6H12O6} + \underset{\text{Fructose}}{C6H12O6}}\]

\[\ce{\underset{\text{Glucose or Fructose}}{C6H12O6}->[Zymase]\underset{\text{Ethanol}}{2C2H5OH} + 2CO2}\]