THE EFFECT OF THE TYPE OF ACID CATALYST AND TIME ON % YIELD OF BIOETHANOL FROM ELEPHANT GRASS (Pennistum Purpureum Schumach)

Elephant gass is cattle feed that contains good nutrition. One of its uses is converted into an energy source in the form bioethanol, Elephant grass has a high cellulose content reaching 40,85%, therefore elephant grass has the potential to be used as raw material in manufacture of bioethanol through the process of acid hydrolysis and fermentation. In research on percent yield of bioethanol from elephant grass chemically carried out at fixed conditions : grass weight 100 gr, temperature 100oC, water 1 liter, H2SO4 30 ml, hydrolysis timw 2 hours and conditions change : fermentation time 4,6,8 (day), saccharomyces cerevisiae starter 7%, 9%, 11%, 13%, HCl and H2SO4 catalys. From the research on chemical bioethanol production from elephant grass we got the best percent yield at 6 days of fermentation, 11% saccharomyces cerevisiae, HCl catalys which was 17,30%Keywords: bioethanol, fermentation, elephant grass