Hydrothermal Pretreatment of Palm Oil Empty Fruit Bunch

Hydrothermal pretreatment methods in 2nd generation bioethanol production more profitable to be developed, since the conventional pretreatment, by using acids or alkalis, is associated with the serious economic and environmental constraints. The current studies investigate hydrothermal pretreatment of palm oil empty fruit bunch (EFB) in a batch tube reactor system with temperature and time range from 160 to 240 C and 15 to 30 min, respectively. The EFB were grinded and separated into 3 different particles sizes i.e. 10 mesh, 18 mesh and 40 mesh, prior to hydrothermal pretreatment. Solid yield and pH of the treated EFB slurries changed over treatment severities. The chemical composition of EFB was greatly affected by the hydrothermal pretreatment especially hemicellulose which decreased at higher severity factor as determined by HPLC. Both partial removal of hemicellulose and migration of lignin during hydrothermal pretreatment caused negatively affect for enzymatic hydrolysis. This studies provided important factors for maximizing hydrothermal pretreatment of EFB.