Pretreatment Of Empty Palm Fruit Bunch For Lignin Degradation

Abstract

Potensi bagi tiga kaedah prarawatan kimia terhadap degradasi lignin tandan kelapa sawit kosong (EPFB) telah dikaji. Pada kaedah pertama, natrium hidroksida (NaOH) dan kalsium hidroksida (Ca(OH)₂) digunakan secara keseluruhan sebagai agen degradasi. Pada kaedah kedua, hidrogen peroksida (H₂O₂) ditambah serentak bersama alkali manakala untuk kaedah ketiga H₂O₂ ditambah berturutan ke dalam campuran EPFB–alkali selepas 24 jam. Peratus degradasi lignin adalah 65%, 72% dan 99% menggunakan NaOH manakala 9%, 31% dan 44% menggunakan (Ca(OH)₂) bagi kaedah 1, 2 dan 3 masing–masing. Dalam keadaan yang sama, NaOH menunjukkan potensi yang lebih baik berbanding (Ca(OH)₂) dan kaedah ketiga adalah merupakan kaedah yang terbaik. Kata kunci: Degradasi lignoselulosa; fenol; tandan kelapa sawit; prarawatan kimia The potential of three chemical pretreatment methods for lignin degradation of empty palm fruit bunch (EPFB) was investigated. In method 1, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂) bases were exclusively used as degradation agents. In the second method, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was simultaneously added with the base while the third method H₂O₂ was consecutively added into the EPFB–base mixtures after 24 h. The percentage of ligin degradation were 65%, 72% and 99% by using NaOH and 9%, 31% and 44% by using (Ca(OH)₂) for methods 1, 2 and 3 respectively. For the same conditions, NaOH demonstrated better performance than Ca(OH)₂ and method 3 was the most superior. Key words: Lignocellulose degradation; phenol; empty palm fruit bunch; chemical pretreatment