The invention provides methods for producing fuel
ethanol by using cellulosic waste plants. One method comprises the following steps of: cleaning and
grinding the waste plants, adding dilute
sulfuric acid to lead
hemicellulose to be hydrolyzed, filtering, adding
lime in filtrate, and removing
precipitation; and carrying out delignification treatment on residue, adding
sulfuric acid, heating to lead
cellulose to be hydrolyzed, diluting till the weight percentage concentration of the
sulfuric acid is 30-40%, recycling the sulfuric acid, heating acidiferous
sugar liquor again, hydrolyzing, adding
calcium oxide for
neutralization, and removing
calcium sulfate. The other method comprises the following steps of: cleaning and
grinding the waste plants, adding waste dilute sulfuric acid to lead
hemicellulose to be hydrolyzed, filtering, then adding
lime in filtrate, and removing
precipitation; adding waste concentrated sulfuric acid in residue, heating, cooling, diluting, heating again, hydrolyzing, adding
calcium oxide for
neutralization, and removing calcium
sulfate; and adding
yeast in the product obtained by the method for
fermentation, distilling, and dehydrating to obtain the finished product of the fuel
ethanol. The methods greatly reduce the cost, have simple process, and are convenient for wide range of generalization and application.