PEANUT SHELL AS RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCE AND THEIR UTILITY IN PRODUCTION OF ETHANOL

Abstract

Peanut botanically known as Arachis hypogeae belongs to Leguminosae family. China (2-2.5 million tons), India (1.5-2 million tons) is the chief producers of groundnut shell. It is of great economic significance to explore the increasing value utilization of peanut shell. Peanut shell used in composting of wet materials, for treatment of waste water, plastic, wardrobes. And also used as insulation board, metal casting, a medium for pesticides, as well as activated carbon. The idea of using peanut shell for the production of ethanol has been investigated. Peanut shell contain cellulose (40.5%), lignin (26.4%), and hemicelluloses (14.7) are rich with cellulosic substances because of this they are also used in bioethanol production. This study is related to the utilization of peanut hull for fuel industry.