Optimization of Microwave-Assisted Alkali Pretreatment for Enhancement of Delignification Process of Cocoa Pod Husk

Maktum Muharja (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jember, Kalimantan 37 Jember 68121)
Rizki Fitria Darmayanti (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jember, Kalimantan 37 Jember 68121)
Bekti Palupi (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jember, Kalimantan 37 Jember 68121)
Istiqomah Rahmawati (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jember, Kalimantan 37 Jember 68121)
Boy Arief Fachri (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jember, Kalimantan 37 Jember 68121)
Felix Arie Setiawan (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jember, Kalimantan 37 Jember 68121)
Helda Wika Amini (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jember, Kalimantan 37 Jember 68121)
Meta Fitri Rizkiana (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jember, Kalimantan 37 Jember 68121)
Atiqa Rahmawati (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jember, Kalimantan 37 Jember 68121)
Ari Susanti (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jember, Kalimantan 37 Jember 68121)
Ditta Kharisma Yolanda Putri (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jember, Kalimantan 37 Jember 68121)

Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis
2021: BCREC Volume 16 Issue 1 Year 2021 (March 2021)

In this study, the optimization of microwave-assisted alkaline (MAA) pretreatment is performed to attain the optimal operating parameters for the delignification of cocoa pod husk (CPH). The MAA performance was examined by heating the CPH solid with different particle sizes (60–120 mesh) and NaOH solution with a different sample to a solvent (SS) ratio (0.02–0.05 g/L), for short irradiation time (1–4 min). Box-Behnken Design (BBD) was utilized to optimize the percentage of lignocellulose composition changes. The results show that by enlarging particle size, the content of lignin and cellulose decreased while hemicellulose increased. By prolong irradiation time, the content of lignin and hemicellulose decreased while cellulose elevated. On the other hand, increasing the SS ratio was not significant for hemicellulose content changes. From FTIR and SEM characterization, the MAA drove the removal of lignin and hemicellulose of CPH and increased cellulose slightly. Supported by kinetic study which conducted in this work, it was exhibited that MAA pretreatment technology is an effective delignification method of CPH which can tackle the bottleneck of its commercial biofuel production. Copyright © 2021 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).