A FUNDAMENTAL STUDY OF EMPTY FRUIT BUNCHES CONVERSION TO SYNTHETIC BIO-BASED ADSORBENT FOR BLEACHING STAGE IN REFINED BLEACH DEODORIZATION OF CRUDE PALM OIL

Abstract

Palm oil (Elaeis Guineensis) is originated from Africa and first planted in Malaysia as an ornament plant. Today palm oil have been the most cultivated plant in Malaysia and have become the most favourable crop, due to the capabilities to produce two type of oils which are palm oil and kernel oil. Both can be extracted from the fibrous mesocarp and kernel nut. The production of crude palm oil (CPO) involved series of steps from the collection of fresh fruit bunch (FFB), sterilization, stripping fruitlets from fruit bunches, extraction of oils, purification and clarification and crude palm oil (CPO) as product. The crude palm oil (CPO) then undergoes refine process such as physical refining to be processed as edible or non-edible product for commercialization. Often production of crude palm oil (CPO) involve producing waste such empty fruit bunches (EFB). In this study, the empty fruit bunch is being converted as a adsorbent for the bleaching stage in the refine bleached deodorization of crude palm oil (CPO). The conversion of empty fruit bunches into adsorbents are being done by carbonization at temperatures 300C, 500C and 800C. Then the carbonized empty fruit bunch is being activated with phosphoric acid. The produced activated carbon is being compared with bleaching clay (earth) in term of capabilities to remove free fatty acid (FFA), carotene content, moisture content and secondary oxidation product through the experimental degummed and bleaching stage along with deodorization stage. The result of this study shown that the activated carbon of empty fruit bunch exhibit superior capabilities removal of free fatty acid (FFA) and moisture content in oil but lacking in the removal carotenoid and secondary oxidation product when compared with bleaching clay (earth)