2-28: Sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide pretreatment for efficient enzymatic saccharification of EFB

Agricultural waste biomass such as EFB (Empty Fruit Bunch; Palm residue) becomes increasingly important in the production of fuel ethanol and fine chemicals. The optimization of alkaline pretreatment conditions for cellulosic biomass makes enable faster and more efficient degradation and conversion to desired products. Alkaline pretreatments were applied to EFB using sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide. Both solutions are effective in delignifying the biomass and increasing the glucan digestibility for efficient enzymatic saccharification. Two different processes were conducted to pretreatment as percolation (flow-through process) and soaking process. The reaction was performed within the range 160~180°C using percolation process and 60~80°C using soaking process, under various concentration of sodium carbonate (1 ~ 3 wt.%) and sodium hydroxide (10 ~ 30 wt.%) at 1:10 solid-liquid ratio. Response surface methode was used to determine the effects of three key factors (alkaline loading, reaction time and temperature) that influence the pretreatments process efficiencies, respectively.