Techno-economic study of ethanol production from low grade dates

Abstract

Algeria is one of the important dates-producing countries with a yearly production of about 850.000 tons. With more than one thousand varieties, however only 30% of this product is of good quality, and the rest is consumed locally or directly fed to the cattle . Our research shows that the area of study (Touggourt) so rich with date palms these trees are very resistant to hot climate and because of their dates proximity contain 50% of sugars compared to the dry weight of the fruit they are qualified to produce high-purity ethanol . The global trend seeking to find a non-polluting energies and environmentally friendly such as the use of biofuels as an alternative to organic, puts bio-ethanol fuel on top of possible alternative energies.