Micro-Fibrillated Cellulose Fabrication from Empty Fruit Bunches of Oil Palm

Micro-fibrillated celluloses (MFCs) are made from oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB). EFB is processed through several stages of the process, including washing, alkalization, and bleaching to remove impurities, lignin, and hemicellulose. Each treatment stage was characterized by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis. Morphological analysis was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The process results show that MFC has an average length and thickness of 450 and 80 microns for coarse fibers respectively, averaging 50 and 5 microns for fine fibers, respectively. Fibrillation fibers appear on the surface of fibers which are treated using alkalization and bleaching processes. The TGA results showed a decrease in weight occurred at a temperature of 40 to 109 °C for the first stage of the heating process and at a temperature of 247 to 382 °C for the second stage. The decrease in fiber weight is caused by evaporation of water content and degradation of cellulose compounds at each stage. The glass transition temperature of MFC was obtained at 236 °C. The thermal stability of cellulose from fibers treated using alkalization and bleaching processes proved the formation of cellulose crystals. Removal of lignin and hemicellulose is shown by the absorption of O-H and C-C bonds in FTIR spectroscopy. From these results, it is stated that micro-fibrillation cellulose is formed well through a series of processes given.

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Strategy to enhance the sugar production using recyclable inorganic salt for pre-treatment of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB)

BioResources ◽

10.15376/biores.15.3.4912-4931 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 4912-4931

Author(s):

Nursia Hassan ◽

Nur Amirah Khairina Khairil Anwar ◽

Ani Idris

Keyword(s):

Oil Palm ◽

Morphological Analysis ◽

Structural Changes ◽

X Ray Diffraction ◽

X Ray ◽

Empty Fruit Bunches ◽

Pretreatment Time ◽

Pretreatment Temperature ◽

Pre Treatment ◽

Pretreatment Conditions

Inorganic salts were used for the pretreatment of oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) to enhance the delignification and saccharification yield of OPEFB. The sequential pretreatment of OPEFB using sodium phosphate dodecahydrate (Na3PO4.12H2O) and zinc chloride (ZnCl2) proved to be an effective approach. OPEFB was delignified by 58.8%, producing a maximum total reducing sugar (TRS) yield of 0.97 g/g under optimum pretreatment conditions of 15% Na3PO4.12H2O, 60 min (30 min/stage) pretreatment time, 10% solid to liquid ratio, and pretreatment temperature of 121 °C. In addition, structural and morphological analysis of the pretreated OPEFB using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and X- ray diffraction (X-RD) revealed major structural changes, such as the generation of porous structure, which allows for better enzyme accessibility. Moreover, recycle experiments showed encouraging findings, as the spent pretreatment liquid with pH adjustment can be recycled efficiently for at least 5 times without a substantial decrease in its effectiveness.

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Thermal Decomposition Kinetics of Torrefied Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Briquettes

Chemistry & Chemical Technology ◽

10.23939/chcht10.03.325 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 325-328 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bemgba Nyakuma ◽

◽

Arshad Ahmad ◽

Anwar Johari ◽

Tuan Abdullah ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thermal Decomposition ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Decomposition Kinetics ◽

Thermal Decomposition Kinetics ◽

Kinetic Properties ◽

Tg Analysis ◽

Empty Fruit Bunches ◽

Thermal Lag ◽

Profile Characteristics ◽

Kinetics Of

The study is aimed at investigating the thermal behavior and decomposition kinetics of torrefied oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) briquettes using a thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and the Coats-Redfern model. The results revealed that thermal decomposition kinetics of OPEFB and torrefied OPEFB briquettes is significantly influenced by the severity of torrefaction temperature. Furthermore, the temperature profile characteristics; Tonset, Tpeak, and Tend increased consistently due to the thermal lag observed during TG analysis. In addition, the torrefied OPEFB briquettes were observed to possess superior thermal and kinetic properties over the untorrefied OPEFB briquettes. It can be inferred that torrefaction improves the fuel properties of pelletized OPEFB for potential utilization in bioenergy conversion systems.

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APPLICATION OF OIL PALM EMPTY FRUIT BUNCH FIBERS IN STRENGTH IMPROVEMENT AS A FIBER REINFORCED CONCRETE

Jurnal Penelitian Kelapa Sawit ◽

10.22302/iopri.jur.jpks.v25i3.33 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 161-170

Author(s):

Henny Lydiasari ◽

Ari Yusman Manalu ◽

Rahmi Karolina

Keyword(s):

Tensile Strength ◽

Compressive Strength ◽

Crack Length ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Fiber Reinforced Concrete ◽

Structural Concrete ◽

Empty Fruit Bunches ◽

Construction Products ◽

By Products ◽

Strength Improvement

The potency of oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) fibers as one of the by-products of processing oil palm is increasing significantly so that proper management is needed in reducing environmental impact. One of the utilization of OPEFB fibers is as a substitution material in construction which usually the material is derived from non-renewable mining materials so that the number is increasingly limited. Therefore, it is necessary to study to know the performance of OPEFB fiber in making construction products especially concrete. In this case, the experiment was conducted using experimental method with variation of fiber addition by 0%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%. Each specimen was tested by weight, slump value, compressive strength, tensile strength, elasticity and crack length. As the results, the variation of fibers addition by 10%, decrease of slump value is 7%, concrete weight is 3% and crack length is 8% while increase of the compressive strength is 2.7% and the modulus of elasticity is 33.3% but its tensile strength decreased insignificantly by 0.05% . Furthermore, the addition of fibers above 10% to 30% decreased compressive strength is still below 10% and tensile strength below 2% while the weight of concrete, slump value and crack length decreased. Therefore, the addition of 10% can replace the performance of concrete without fiber but the addition of above 10% can still be used on non-structural concrete.

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Flammability, Tensile, and Morphological Properties of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Fiber/Pet Yarn-Reinforced Epoxy Fire Retardant Hybrid Polymer Composites

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym13081282 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 1282

Author(s):

M.J. Suriani ◽

Fathin Sakinah Mohd Radzi ◽

R.A. Ilyas ◽

Michal Petrů ◽

S.M. Sapuan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tensile Properties ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Natural Fiber ◽

Fire Retardant ◽

Epoxy Composites ◽

Morphological Properties ◽

Hybrid Polymer ◽

Fiber Volume ◽

Fiber Loading ◽

Empty Fruit Bunches

Oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) fiber is a natural fiber that possesses many advantages, such as biodegradability, eco-friendly, and renewable nature. The effect of the OPEFB fiber loading reinforced fire retardant epoxy composites on flammability and tensile properties of the polymer biocomposites were investigated. The tests were carried out with four parameters, which were specimen A (constant), specimen B (20% of fiber), specimen C (35% of fiber), and specimen D (50% of fiber). The PET yarn and magnesium hydroxide were used as the reinforcement material and fire retardant agent, respectively. The results were obtained from several tests, which were the horizontal burning test, tensile test, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The result for the burning test showed that specimen B exhibited better flammability properties, which had the lowest average burning rate (11.47 mm/min). From the tensile strength, specimen A revealed the highest value of 10.79 N/mm2. For the SEM morphological test, increasing defects on the surface ruptured were observed that resulted in decreased tensile properties of the composites. It can be summarized that the flammability and tensile properties of OPEFB fiber reinforced fire retardant epoxy composites were reduced when the fiber volume contents were increased at the optimal loading of 20%, with the values of 11.47 mm/min and 4.29 KPa, respectively.

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