• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.360-369
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• 2016

In this study, sequential leaching and wet torrefaction were performed to improve the fuel characteristics of empty fruit bunch (EFB). Leaching was carried out at $25{\sim}90^{\circ}C$ for 5~30 min. The highest ash removal efficiency of 55.99% was achieved when leaching was performed at $90^{\circ}C$ for 10 min. The ash removal efficiency was dependent more on leaching temperature than time. Wet torrefaction was carried out at $180{\sim}200^{\circ}C$ for 5~40 min, following the leaching. Most of the inorganic compounds were removed at removal efficiencies of 41.05~63.58% during sequential leaching and wet torrefaction, while silica remained in the biomass. Chloride, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus showed more than 80% removal efficiencies. The calorific value of EFB increased to 7.96% (4730 kcal/kg) in comparison to the raw material (4390 kcal/kg) when wet torrefaction was performed at $200^{\circ}C$ for 40 min following leaching.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.46-55
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• 2016

The microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was prepared from oil palm biomass, empty fruit bunch (EFB) for increasing the usability of EFB. The morphological, physical and chemical properties of MCC made from EFB were evaluated by comparing with those of the commercial MCC obtained from AVICEL. The EFB-MCC had the wider distribution in particle size and there were many small particles around $10{\mu}m$. There were no significant differences in the cellulose crytallinity and the chemical composition between EFB-MCC and AVICEL-MCC. The properties of tablet samples made by the common direct compression process were evaluated depending on the types of MCC and the compression pressure during tablet making process. The tablet made of EFB MCC showed the higher compressed structure, which resulted in the less disintegration by the water soaking treatment than those made of Avicel-MCC. The results of this study showed that the EFB-MCC could be utilized as one of the commercial MCC.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1084-1091
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• 2012

Xylooligosaccharides are functional foods mainly produced during the hydrolysis of xylan by physical, chemical, or enzymatic methods. In this study, production of xylobiose was investigated using oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (OPEFB) as a source material, by chemical and enzymatic methods. Xylanase-specific xylan hydrolysis followed by xylobiose production was observed. Among different xylanases, xylanase from FXY-1 released maximum xylobiose from pretreated OPEFB fiber, and this fungal strain was identified as Aspergillus terreus and subsequently deposited under the accession Number MTCC- 8661. The imperative role of lignin on xylooligosaccharides enzymatic synthesis was exemplified with the notice of xylobiose production only with delignified material. A maximum 262 mg of xylobiose was produced from 1.0 g of pretreated OPEFB fiber using FXY-1 xylanase (6,200 U/ml) at pH 6.0 and $45^{\circ}C$. At optimized environment, the yield of xylobiose was improved to 78.67 g/100 g (based on xylan in the pretreated OPEFB fiber).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.514-517
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• 1999

Hydrolysis of EFB (empty fruit bunch) derived from oil palm was studied using crude enzyme from Aspergillus terreus IMI 282743 along with commercial enzymes from Trichoderma reesei and Aspergillus niger. Hydrolysis at $40^{\circ}C$ and $50^{\circ}C$ with $\alpha$-cellulose or EFB gave significantly lower yield when commercial enzymes of T. reesei and A. niger were used and the hydrolysis time extended beyond 10 h. After 24 h of hydrolysis at $40^{\circ}C$ and $50^{\circ}C$, the filter paper activity (Fpase) from A. terreus retained as much activity as A. niger and it was significantly higher than T. reesei. Glucose concentration of 0.25% and 0.5% caused significant inhibition in the crude enzyme, but in regards to the commercial enzymes it only showed a slight effect. Crude enzymes from A. terreus could produce the highest reducing sugars when compared to commercial enzymes from T. reesei or A. niger. Nevertheless, low yield of sugar was observed for EFB for all treatments.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.350-359
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• 2016

We performed fast pyrolysis of empty fruit bunch (EFB) in the range of temperature from $400{\sim}550^{\circ}C$ and 1.3 s of residence time. The effect of temperature on the yields and physicochemical properties of pyrolytic products were also studied. Elemental and component analysis of EFB showed that the large amount of potassium (ca. 8400 ppm) presents in the feedstock. Thermogravimetric analysis suggested that the potassium in the feedstock catalyzed degradation of cellulose. The yield of bio-oil increased with increasing temperature in the range of temperature from $400{\sim}500^{\circ}C$, while that of gas and biochar decreased and showed monotonous change each with increasing temperature. When the EFB was pyrolyzed at $550^{\circ}C$, the yield of bio-oil and char decreased while that of gas increased. Water content of the bio-oils obtained at different temperatures was 20~30% and their total acid number were less than 100 mg KOH/g oil. Viscosity of the bio-oils was 11 cSt (centistoke), and heating value varied from 15 to 17 MJ/kg. Using GC/MS analysis, 27 chemical compounds which were classified into two groups (cellulose-derived and lignin-derived) were identified. Remarkably the concentration of phenol was approximately 25% based on entire chemical compounds.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.329-341
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• 2017

The challenge of replacing conventional plastics with biodegradable composite materials has attracted much attention in product design, particularly in the tensile-related areas of application. In this study, fibres extracted from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) were treated and utilized in reinforcing polyester matrix by hand lay-up technique. The effect of fibre loading and combined influence of alkali and silane treatments on porosity and water absorption parameters, and its correlation with the tensile behaviour of composites was analyzed. The results showed that tensile strength decreased whilst modulus of elasticity, water absorption and porosity parameters increased with increasing fibre loading. The composites of treated oil palm EFB fibre exhibited improved values of 2.47 MPa to 3.78 MPa for tensile strength; 1.75 MPa to 2.04 MPa for modulus of elasticity; 3.43% to 1.68% for porosity and 3.51% to 3.12% for water absorption at respective 10 wt.% fibre loadings. A correlation between porosity and water absorption with tensile behavior of composites of oil palm EFB fibre and positive effect of fibre treatment was established, which clearly demonstrate a connection between processing and physical properties with tensile behavior of fibre composites. Accordingly, a further exploitation of economic significance of oil palm EFB fibres composites in areas of low-to-medium tensile strength application is inferred.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.358-358
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• 2006

The graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA), butyl acrylate (BA) and acrylamide (AAm) onto oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fiber were successfully carried out in aqueous solution using $H_{2}O_{2}/Fe^{2+}$ as initiator. For all monomers the percentage of grafting increases with the amount of monomer and can be controlled by setting the appropriate reaction conditions. The optimum reaction period were found to be 120 minutes for all monomers whereas the optimum temperature and the amount of initiator needed for grafting depend on the type of the monomer used. The mechanisms of grafting vinyl monomer onto OPEFB were proposed. The grafted products were characterized by gravimetric analysis, FTIR and SEM.

• Carbon letters
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• v.28
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• pp.81-86
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• 2018

Empty fruit bunch (EFB) char was used to remove $NO_x$ and odorous substances. The physicochemical properties of the EFB chars were altered by steam or KOH treatments. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area and porosity were measured to determine the properties of the modified EFB chars. The $deNO_x$ and adsorption test for hydrogen sulphide and acetaldehyde were performed to determine the feasibility of the modified EFB chars. The KOH-treated EFB (KEFB) char revealed higher $deNO_x$ efficiency than with commercial activated carbon. The Cu-impregnated EFB char also had high $deNO_x$ efficiency at temperatures higher than $150^{\circ}C$. The KEFB char showed the highest hydrogen sulphide and acetaldehyde adsorption ability, followed by the steam-treated EFB char and untreated EFB char. Moreover, the product prepared by sulfonation of EFB char showed excellent performance for esterification of palm fatty acid distillate for biodiesel production.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.439-449
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• 2014

RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) has increased wood pellet demand dramatically in recent years in Korea where self-supply rate of wood pellet is not more than 10%. However global production capacity of wood pellet is prospected to be unable to meet the global demand after 2020. Therefore it is urgently needed to develop new sustainable biomass energy resources which can replace wood pellet at lower cost. As a result of this study EFB (empty fruit bunch) and MF (mesocarp fiber), the representative solid palm biomass, are estimated to be generated at the rate of 20 and 28 million tons per year (based on 10% moisture content) in Malaysia and Indonesia, respectively in 2012. Total annual generation rate of EFB and MF is estimated as 48 million tons per year only in Malaysia and Indonesia in 2012. With calorific value of over 90% of wood pellet EFB is expected to be a excellent biomass energy resource which can replace wood pellet. EFB can be utilized as fuel for power generation or industrial purpose. However EFB may not be a proper fuel for domestic and greenhouse heating because of its high ash content.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.372-377
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• 2019

Leaching ($60^{\circ}C$, 5 min) and wet torrefaction ($200^{\circ}C$, 5 min) of empty fruit bunch (EFB) were carried out to improve the fuel properties; each liquid fraction was reused for leaching and wet torrefaction, respectively. In the leaching process, potassium was effectively removed because the leaching solution contained 707.5 ppm potassium. Inorganic compounds were accumulated in the leaching solution by increasing the reuse cycle of leaching solution. The major component of the leached biomass did not differ significantly from the raw material (p-value < 0.05). Inorganic compounds in the biomass were more effectively removed by sequential leaching and wet torrefaction (61.1%) than by only the leaching process (50.1%) at the beginning of the liquid fraction reuse. In the sequential leaching and wet torrefaction, the main hydrolysate component was xylose (2.36~4.17 g/L). This implied that hemicellulose was degraded during wet torrefaction. As in the leaching process, potassium was effectively removed and the concentration was accumulated by increasing the reuse cycle of wet torrefaction hydrolysates. There was no significant change in the chemical composition of wet torrefied biomass, which implied that fuel properties of biomass were constantly maintained by the reuse (four times) of the liquid fraction generated from leaching and wet torrefaction.