Enzyme pretreatment and saccharification of EFB for ethanol production

This is a study on the feasibility of using laccase enzyme as the pretreatment agent for empty fruit bunches (EFB). Several experiments were conducted such as screening of the process parameters for the pretreatment and saccharification of the enzyme-pretreated EFB using One-Factor-At-a-Time, statistical optimization of the pretreatment and saccharification process parameters using Response Surface Methodology (RSM), and evaluation of the bioethanol production using simple fermentation process. The result of the pretreatment study suggested a process condition comprised of EFB size 2mm, EFB concentration 5 % (w/v), laccase enzyme concentration 20 IU/g, temperature 35 oC, time 4 h, pH 5, and agitation 150 RPM as the ideal pretreatment condition. The ideal saccharification process condition comprised of EFB concentration 5 % (w/v), cellulase enzyme concentration 30 IU/g, temperature 50 oC, time 24 h, pH 5, and agitation of150 RPM. Bioethanol production evaluation at the optimized pretreatment and saccharification conditions yielded 29.13 % of bioethanol by total sugar content while 31.12 % of ethanol yield was achieved by EFB content.