Activated Carbon from Palm Oil Mill (POM) Wastes: Effect of KOH Activation Ratio Andhika PA Pratama, Hendrix Y Setyawan, Sri Suhartini*
Department of Agro-industrial Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Brawijaya University, Malang, 65145, Indonesia
*ssuhartini[at]ub.ac.id
Abstract
Each palm oil mill (POM) generates wastes (i.e., oil palm empty palm fruit bunches/OPEFBs and oil palm mesocarp fiber/OPMF), which contain high lignocellulosic materials and highlighted as potential bioethanol substrates. However, only 13.68-14.5% bioethanol can be produced from OPEFBs, and the rest are fiber residues. Bioethanol production from OPEFBs with integrated biorefinery is essential to create efficient waste valorization. Activated carbon is an alternative valorization of POM wastes and bioethanol fermentation residues, considering their high carbon content. This study evaluated the quality of activated carbon from POM wastes under different KOH activation ratios. The results show that increases in moisture content of activated carbon may be due to neutralization and storage processes, as its hydrophilic nature makes it easier to absorb water vapor. The KOH activation ratio reduced the ash content of activated carbon to 13.85% (OPMF), 6.19% (OPEFBs), and 10.72% (fermentation residues). Fixed carbon content increases at KOH activation ratio of 1:3 and 1:5, while iodine number and surface area increase by up to 16%. The findings confirmed that OPEFB and bioethanol fermentation residues were highly potential for activated carbon via chemical activation. The mass balance calculation indicated that activated carbon from fermentation residues needs to be further developed.
