Alternative Energy from Fresh Water Weed, Hydrilla verticillata

Abstract

In this work, we investigated ethanol production from the common aquatic plant hydrilla by hydrolysis process. This was achieved using a fermentation medium mixed with aqueous solutions of H2SO4 (0.5%) and NaOH (1%). Firstly, fermentation medium was obtained from washing rice. Samples were left to ferment in the acidic and basic solutions for different time scales and tested for alcohol concentration. The resulting of producing ethyl alcohol were at 4.0% for H2SO4 cont. 0.5% , 3.5% for NaOH cont. 1% and 5.0% for H2O solution at measuring of time ~6 hours.