Valorization of the Wastes of Bioethanol Production from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch

A Biorefinery Approach

Abstract

The high production cost of second generation bioethanol from oil palm empty fruit bunches  as a substitution for fossil fuel is a major obstacle for its development. Therefore, in this study, an integrated process of valorization of the wastes from bioethanol production has been conducted to overcome the problem, including the development of activated carbon as an adsorbent from black liquor and glutathione as an antioxidant from the waste fermentation using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The performance of bioethanol black liquor sludge-based carbonaceous adsorbent was tested using methylene blue solution. The results showed that bioethanol black liquor sludge-based carbonaceous adsorbent could decolorize 100 mg L^-1 methylene blue solution by 98% in 30 minutes. The glutathione extraction was conducted by maceration assisted by a sonication process. The characterization was carried out using the alloxan method with a UV-Vis spectrophotometer and 1.32 g L^-1 glutathione was obtained.