Production of Bioethanol from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch via Acid Impregnation-Steam Explosion Pretreatment

This research aimed to elucidate the feasibility of ethanol production from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) via acid impregnation-steam explosion as a pretreatment technique. Results indicated optimum conditions for EFB chips impregnated with 0.14 M sulphuric acid for one night and then steamed at 203 degrees C for 2 min which gave 54.11% fibre and 8.78% xylose solubilisation in the hydrolysate. The fibre was further evaluated for ethanol production efficiency by comparing the two processes of separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). Results revealed that SHF gave a higher ethanol yield of 74.43% than SSF at 64.30%. In addition, the xylose solution obtained in this manner could directly use for value-added products production.