RECYCLING OF OIL PALM EMPTY FRUIT BUNCH AS POTENTIAL CARRIER FOR BIOFERTILIZER FORMULATION

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Then Kek Hoe ◽  
Mohamad Roji Sarmidi ◽  
Sharifah Shahrul Rabiah Syed Alwee ◽  
Zainul Akmar Zakaria

The palm oil industry generates large amount of biomass waste such as oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) and palm oil mill effluent (POME). This biomass would be typically recycled to produce EFB compost that is a valuable agricultural input. This study was conducted to evaluate the suitability of using EFB compost as carrier for nitrogen fixing bacteria (NFB) and phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB). Mixture (50-60% moisture) between EFB (shredded short fibres) and POME (anaerobic pond) were added with Effective Microorganisms (EM) to accelerate the composting process. The EFB compost reached thermophilic phase after 4-6 weeks with consistent temperature between 50-60oC. After 7 weeks of composting, EFB compost reached the mesophilic phase with continuous reduction of temperature to 35-40oC at week 8. The maturity of the compost is supported from the reduction of the C/N ratio from 36 (initial) to 20 (after 6 weeks). Mature EFB compost was sun-dried and ground into fine particle size (1 mm) prior to be used as carrier. Dried EFB compost carrier has the following characteristics (dry weight); average pH at 7.5, C/N ratio - 13.5, moisture - 17.4%, organic matter – 74.5%, total N - 3.06%, P - 0.37%, K - 4.74%, Ca - 3.32% and Mg - 0.79%. The inoculation of NFB and PSB into the EFB compost carrier from single cultures of Serratia marcescens and Enterobacter cloacae showed high viable cell count at 4.05 x 109 CFU/g and 2.75 x 108 CFU/g respectively at day three after inoculation. Meanwhile, the mixed culture of Burkholderia cenocepacia with Serratia marcescens showed 2.45 x 108 CFU/g and 4.31 x 109 CFU/g respectively. This clearly indicates the potential of using EFB as a useful alternative for bacterial immobilization prior to application in the oil palm industries.

Fermentation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Hironaga Akita ◽  
Mohd Zulkhairi Mohd Yusoff ◽  
Shinji Fujimoto

Malaysia is the second largest palm oil producer and exporter globally. When crude palm oil is produced in both plantations and oil processing mills, a large amount of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is simultaneously produced as a waste product. Here, we describe the preparation of hydrolysate from OPEFB. After OPEFB was hydrothermally treated at 180–200 °C, the resultant liquid phase was subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography analysis, while the solid phase was used for acidic and enzymatic hydrolysis. Hemicellulose yield from the acid-treated solid phase decreased from 153 mg/g-OPEFB to 27.5 mg/g-OPEFB by increasing the hydrothermal treatment temperature from 180 to 200 °C. Glucose yield from the enzyme-treated solid phase obtained after hydrothermal treatment at 200 °C was the highest (234 ± 1.90 mg/g-OPEFB, 61.7% production efficiency). In contrast, xylose, mannose, galactose, and arabinose yields in the hydrolysate prepared from the solid phase hydrothermally treated at 200 °C were the lowest. Thus, we concluded that the optimum temperature for hydrothermal pretreatment was 200 °C, which was caused by the low hemicellulose yield. Based on these results, we have established an effective method for preparing OPEFB hydrolysates with high glucose content.


BioResources ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 291-307
Author(s):  
Mahdi Shahriarinour ◽  
Mohd Noor Abdul Wahab ◽  
Shuhaimi Mustafa ◽  
Rosfarizan Mohamad ◽  
Arbakariya B. Ariff

The possibility of using treated oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibres as substrate for cellulase production by Aspergillus terreus was studied using shaking flask fermentation. The effect of different chemical pretreatments, i.e. formic acid, acetic acid, propylamine, phosphoric acid, and n-butylamine, on the suitability of OPEFB fibres as fermentation substrate was investigated. The findings revealed that pretreatment with these chemicals significantly (P<0.05) increased the cellulose and reduced the lignin contents prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. However, fermentation using OPEFB fibres pretreated with phosphoric acid gave the highest cellulase production, which was related to high cellulose content. Further improvement in cellulase production was obtained when the chemically pretreated OPEFB fibres were subsequently treated hydrothermally (autoclaved at 160oC for 10 min) and then biologically (using effective microorganisms). The final activity of the three main components of cellulase (FPase, CMCase, and β-glucosidase) obtained in fermentation by A. terreus using optimally treated OPEFB fibres was (0.77 U mL−1, 8.5 U mL-1, and 6.1 U mL-1), respectively. The production of all these three major components of cellulase using pretreated OPEFB fibres (i.e. chemical, hydrothermal, and biological) were about three times higher than those obtained from fermentation using untreated OPEFB fibres.


2018 ◽  
Vol 154 ◽  
pp. 01036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bachrun Sutrisno ◽  
Arif Hidayat

The palm oil industry is currently growing rapidly and generating large amounts of biomass waste that is not utilized properly. Palm empty fruit bunch (PEFB), by product of palm oil industry is considered as a promising alternative and renewable energy source that can be converted to a liquid product by pyrolysis process. In this work, pyrolysis of PEFB was studied to produce bio-oil. Pyrolysis experiments were carried out in a bench scale tubular furnace reactor. The effects of pyrolysis temperatures (400–600 °C) at heating rate of 10 °C/min to optimize the pyrolysis process for maximum liquid yield were investigated. The characteristics of bio-oil were analyzed using FTIR and GC–MS. The results showed that the maximum bio-oil yield was 44.5 wt. % of the product at 450 °C. The bio-oil products were mainly composed of acids, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, phenols, and oligomers. The chemical characterization showed that the bio-oil obtained from PEFB may be potentially valuable as a fuel and chemical feedstock.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 01008
Author(s):  
Nor Hasanah Abdul Shukor Lim ◽  
Mostafa Samadi ◽  
Abdul Rahman Mohd. Sam ◽  
Nur Hafizah Abd Khalid ◽  
Noor Nabilah Sarbini ◽  
...  

This paper studies the drying shrinkage of mortar incorporating oil palm biomass waste including Palm Oil Fuel Ash, Oil Palm Kernel Shell and Oil Palm Fibre. Nano size of palm oil fuel ash was used up to 80 % as cement replacement by weight. The ash has been treated to improve the physical and chemical properties of mortar. The mass ratio of sand to blended ashes was 3:1. The test was carried out using 25 × 25 × 160 mm prism for drying shrinkage tests and 70 × 70 ×70 mm for compressive strength test. The results show that the shrinkage value of biomass mortar is reduced by 31% compared with OPC mortar thus, showing better performance in restraining deformation of the mortar while the compressive strength increased by 24% compared with OPC mortar at later age. The study gives a better understanding of how the biomass waste affect on mortar compressive strength and drying shrinkage behaviour. Overall, the oil palm biomass waste can be used to produce a better performance mortar at later age in terms of compressive strength and drying shrinkage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-77
Author(s):  
Shamala Gowri Krishnan ◽  
Fei-Ling Pua ◽  
Ee-Sann Tan

Biomass, renewable, abundantly available and a good source of energy. The conversion of biomass waste into valuable products has received wide attention. In this study, an empty fruit bunch (oil palm EFB) supported magnetic acid catalyst for esterification reaction was successfully prepared via the one-step impregnation process. The new magnetic catalyst achieved a higher surface area of 188.87 m2/g with a total acidity of 2.4 mmol/g and identified iron oxide as g-Fe2O3. The magnetization value of 24.97 emu/g demonstrated that the superparamagnetic catalyst could be easily recovered and separated after the reaction using an external magnet. The catalytic performance of oil palm EFB supported magnetic acid catalyst was examined by esterification of oleic acid. Esterification process parameters were optimized via Response Surface Methodology (RSM) optimization tool with Box-Behnken design (BBD). The following optimum parameters were determined: an amount of 9 wt% catalyst, molar ratio of methanol to oleic acid of 12:1, reaction time of 2 h and reaction temperature of 60 °C with a maximum conversion of 94.91% was achieved. The catalyst can be recycled up to five cycles with minimal loss in its activity. The oil palm waste-based magnetic acid catalyst indicates its potential replacement to the existing solid catalysts that are economical and environmentally friendly for the esterification process in biofuel applications. Copyright © 2021 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). 


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 4056
Author(s):  
Nur Fattima’ Al-Zahara’ Tuan Mohamood ◽  
Abdul Hakam Abdul Halim ◽  
Norhazlin Zainuddin

Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is modified cellulose extracted from oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) biomass waste that has been prepared through etherification using sodium monochloroacetate (SMCA) in the presence of sodium hydroxide. In this research, CMC hydrogel was prepared using calcium chloride (CaCl2) as the chemical crosslinker. Throughout the optimization process, four important parameters were studied, which were: (1) CMC concentration, (2) CaCl2 concentration, (3) reaction time, and (4) reaction temperature. From the results, the best gel content obtained was 28.11% at 20% (w/v) of CMC with 1% (w/v) of CaCl2 in 24 h reaction at room temperature. Meanwhile, the degree of swelling for CMC hydrogel was 47.34 g/g. All samples were characterized using FT-IR, XRD, TGA, and FESEM to study and compare modification on the OPEFB cellulose. The FT-IR spectrum of CMC hydrogel showed a shift of COO− peaks at 1585 cm−1 and 1413 cm−1, indicating the substitution of Ca2+ into the CMC molecular chains. The XRD diffractogram of CMC hydrogel showed no observation of sharp peaks, which signified an amorphous hydrogel phase. The CrI value also proved the decrement of the crystalline nature of CMC hydrogel. TGA–DTG thermograms showed that the Tmax of CMC hydrogel at 293.33 °C is slightly better in thermal stability compared to CMC. Meanwhile, the FESEM micrograph of CMC hydrogel showed interconnected pores indicating the crosslinkages in CMC hydrogel. CMC hydrogel was successfully synthesized using CaCl2 as a crosslinking agent, and its swelling ability can be used in various applications such as drug delivery systems, industrial effluent, food additives, heavy metal removal, and many more.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Zainudin Zainudin ◽  
Abdul Rofik

Palm oil is an export commodity of the plantation sector which began to develop rapidly in East Kalimantan with an area until 2017 reaching 1,192,342 Ha consisting of 284,523 Ha as plasma / smallholder plants, 14,402 Ha owned by SOEs as the core and 893,417 Ha owned by Large Private Plantation.Empty bunches (Tankos) are solid waste that is produced by palm oil mills in the process of managing palm fruit bunches into crude palm oil (CPO). In each processing 1 ton of fruit bunches will produce Tankos as much as 21-23%. Oil palm empty fruit bunches that are not managed properly will become waste that does not provide benefits. Compost technology using a local microorganism starter (MOL) can be used to produce quality organic fertilizer considering the process involves decomposing bacteria of organic ingredients. Compost technology from tankos waste is very possible to be developed, both at the level of farmers and private oil palm companies. This study aim to determine the potential of palm oil mill effluent (POME) as an bioactivator for composting oil palm empty fruit bunches, and to determine the chemical quality of oil palm empty fruit bunch compost with MOL bioactivator liquid waste as organic fertilizer. Through this research, it is expected that the palm oil mill's liquid waste can be utilized as a bioactivator for compost production and can be applied to the production of oil palm empty fruit bunch compost.This research was conducted for one year. The stages of the research are as follows: 1. Chemical analysis of POME waste, 2. Making LM POME, 3. Chemical analysis of LM POME, and 4. Making EFB Compost, and Chemical Analysis of oil palm empty fruit bunch compost. Compost making using randomized block design (RBD) with 5 treatments and 4 replications include: P0 = 0 ml / liter of water, P1 = 100 ml / liter of water, P2 = 300 ml / liter of water, P3 = 600 ml / liter of water, P4 = 900 ml / liter of water.The analysis showed that there was an increase in the chemical properties of POME after becoming an LM POME activator. Increased chemical properties such as phosphorus from 0.01 to 0.02, potassium from 0.19 to 0.27, and organic carbon from 0.90 to 1.30, but some chemical properties such as pH decreased from 7.20 to 3, 37 and nitrogen decreased from 0.37 to 0.05. The EFB compost analysis results showed that the highest pH was p2 with a value of 8.23, the highest organic C at p4 treatment with a value of 57.65, the highest total N at p3 with a value of 1.80, P2O5 the highest total at p3 with a value of 0.64, and the highest total K2O at p4 with a value of 2.68. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Denny Irawati ◽  
Ganis Lukmandaru ◽  
Joko Sulistyo ◽  
Sigit Sunarta ◽  
Tomy Listyanto ◽  
...  

In order to meet the land requirements for housing construction of its employees, PT Semen Baturaja Tbk. (PTSB) opens approximately 27 ha of land which is estimated to have approximately 2700 less productive oil palm trees. The opening of the land will produce substantial palm biomass. One of the efforts to utilize palm oil biomass waste is by processing it into compost. Compost can be used for rehabilitation of ex-mine land by PTSB. So far, PTSB has no experience in the field of composting, therefore PTSB in collaboration with the Faculty of Forestry, Gadjah Mada University produces compost from waste palm oil biomass. The method used in this service activity is socialization, participatory composting, and mentoring in the field. The output of this activity is in the form of palm biomass compost and knowledge about the technology of the composting process for PTSB. The amount of compost that can be obtained from 8 oil palm leaf mounds is 248.9 tons while that of the oil palm stem is 1,236.6 tons. Compost fertilizer after composting for 2 months has a C/N ratio of 13.7. The cost for composting is Rp. 591,405,000, with a potential profit of Rp. 6,093,232,500, -. The impact of knowledge on composting is saving on spending on PTSB to buy fertilizer for land rehabilitation and handling the problem of biomass waste.


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