Process simulation of bio-ethanol production from empty fruit bunch via acid hydrolysis pretreatment

• Published in: IET Conference Proceedings
• Main Authors: Bhullar, L K, Putra, Z A, Bilad, M R, Hadi, N A, Hakim, M D
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Stevenage The Institution of Engineering & Technology 05-09-2018
• Subjects: Ethanol; Fermentation; Hydrolysis; Palm oil; Pretreatment; Profitability
• DOI: 10.1049/cp.2018.1346
• ISBN: 1839530030; 9781839530036

This work developed bio-ethanol production process based on empty fruit bunch (EFB) of palm oil and compared it with the literature benchmark model. Dilute acid hydrolysis is used as the biomass pretreatment prior to enzyme hydrolysis and fermentation. The amount of bio-ethanol produced from the EFB is higher than that in the literature, which used corn stover as the feedstock. This is because, the content of cellulose and xylan in EFB is higher by 5.4wt% and 17wt% respectively, compared to corn stover. The estimated annual economic potentials for EFB and corn stover feed processes are $ 141 mil and $ 153 mil, respectively. The significantly lower price of EFB ($5/ton) compared to corn stover ($58.50/ton) contributes to the higher profitability of the production of bio-ethanol from EFB.