A. Daftar isi International Conference on Oleo and Petrochemical Engineering

Abstract

This present work focused on the characterization of treated oil palm frond (OPF) from ozonolysis pretreatment. The ozonolysis pretreatment was performed in a conventional semi-batch reactor at ambient condition. The effectiveness of ozonolysis pretreatment was validated by investigating the degradation of lignin and composition of solid product from pretreatment (treated OPF). In addition, crystallinity, surface area, pore structure, and morphology of untreated and treated OPF, as well as functional groups present were examined accordingly to study the effect of ozonolysis pretreatment on physical properties of OPF. The ozonolysis pretreatment on OPF was found to degrade the lignin structure, and exerted only a slight effect on the hemicellulose structure. Meanwhile, the cellulose yield was increased. As comparison to the untreated OPF, the crystallinity index OPF was increased while the surface area, pore volume, and mean pore diameter for the treated was decreased. This observation explained that the ozonolysis reaction has degraded the C=C bond of acid insoluble lignin into acid soluble lignin. Thus, the lignin could be removed easily by washing with water. Removing the amorphous component would lead to higher crystallinity index. Meanwhile, the pore properties of treated OPF would collapse during washing and drying process. Results of the present study indicated ozonolysis pretreatment as an effective method for OPF pretreatment to produce a washed clean substrate rich in cellulose and xylan. In addition, the physical properties of OPF were improved and ready for subsequent downstream bioconversion process such as acid hydrolysis for glucose productio