Enhancing Biogas Production from Empty Fruit Oil Palm Bunches (EFOB) Part I: Influence of Biological Pre-treatment on the Characteristics
Reny Nurul Utami, Martasari Beti Pangestuti, Nur Hidayat, Sri Suhartini*
Department of Agroindustrial Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang
Abstract
Empty fruit oil palm bunches (EFOB) is one of the abundant lignocellulosic biomass in Indonesia. However, high lignin content in EFOB has becoming one of the obstacles in valorising it as bioenergy resources, as it is hardly breakdown by the microorganisms. Therefore, pre-treatment is often needed to enhance the biodegradation process of organic content in EFOB. This study was aimed to investigate impact of biological pre-treatment using fungi on the EFOB characteristics and to estimate the biogas production and its conversion to electricity. The biological pre-treatment on EFOB is besieged to enhance the utilisation of EFOB as bioenergy resources. In this study, EFOB was treated using Phanerocheate chrysosporium under standard condition and incubated for 7 and 14 days. The results showed that fungi pre-treatment was able to reduce the amount of lignin concentration, which indicating that more lignin was broken down into other easily degradable organic material compounds. The calorific values of EFOB after pre-treatment also increased alongside with the increase in incubation time, which also indicating a higher energy potential. Estimation on electrical potential based on CHNS values was also indicating the same trends. Treated EFOB has more electricity and heath production compared to that of untreated EFOB. Further research, however, is still required to have in-depth understanding on improving the efficacy of biogas production by incorporating a green pre-treatment using biological pathway approach.
Keywords: bioenergy, biological pre-treatment, Phanerocheate chrysosporium, EFOB
Topic: Engineering