The kinetic study on hydrolysis of cellulose (saw-dust)

This research project studied on the kinetics of hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose. The steps employed to achieve this project involved extraction of cellulose from sawdust and subsequently, hydrolysis of starch to simple sugar. This was followed by glucose analysis. Different experiments were conducted during acid hydrolysis to study the various acids on the hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose. The saw-dust was extracted from the wood by grinding using saw. The process used in the hydrolysis was acid hydrolysis in which two major inorganic acids (Hydrochloric and Sulfuric) were used at constant temperature of 80oC. During this experiment, it was observed that Hydrochloric acid hydrolyzed most, followed by Sulphuric acid. Finally, sugar analysis was carried out to determine the acid with the highest yield of glucose and the best acid for the hydrolysis. It was noticed that the yield of glucose was relatively high from HCl at 1.280% concentration, followed by H2SO4 at 0.940%. It was also seen from the graph that the absorbance yield increases as the glucose concentrations increases in terms of HCl. Therefore, the best acid for acid for acid hydrolysis is HCl