Effect of acid hydrolysis on bioethanol production from oil palm fruit bunches

Abstract

Bioethanol is organic fuels from natural materials containing starch and cellulose. High levels of cellulose can be found in the waste of empty oil palm fruit bunches. The initial stages of bioethanol production in this study is the delignification stage I and delignification stage II to reduce the lignin content. The hydrolysis process to convert hemicellulose and cellulose into sugar, fermentation to convert sugar into bioethanol. This study was conducted to determine the effect of variations in H 2 SO 4 concentration on the sugar content of the material after hydrolysis, determine the optimal time conditions for fermentation of empty palm fruit bunches to produce bioethanol. Hydrolyzed with variations in the use of 0.5 %v/v sulfuric acid; 1.5 %v/v; 2.5 %v/v and 3.5 %v/v. The results obtained that the sugar content increased at a concentration of 0.5 %v/v sulfuric acid; 1.5 %v/v and 2.5 %v/v and decreased at a concentration of 3.5 %v/v. The sugar solution obtained was then fermented with the microorganism Saccharomyces cerevisiae with variations in fermentation time of 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 96 h and 120 h. The optimal condition for bioethanol production is the use of 2.5 %v/v sulfuric acid with a fermentation time of 96 h, with the concentration of bioethanol produced is 5.25 %v/v.