Optimization and Kinetic Modelling of The Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Oil Palm Petioles

Abstract

Oil palm petiole is  the solid waste  of the crude palm oil industry.  It contains about 35% cellulose, 18% hemicellulose and 22-25% lignin.  During hydrolysis   lingo celllulosic, cellulose and hemicellulose are gradually degraded into fermentable sugars, such as glucose and xylose. Enzymatic hydrolysis of oil palm petioleby xylanase could be an effective biotechnological process, since it can be performed at ambient temperature and pressure. Further glucose and xylose can be used as raw material for the production of a wide variety of chemicals such as xylitol and bioethanol. The aim of this study wasto examine the optimum conditions needed for the enzymatic hydrolysis  of oil palm petioles, particularly temperature and pH. A surface Response Method Methodologies  (RSM) by central composite design (CCD) was employed to obtain  the optimum xylose concentration.   The dynamics of enzymatic hydrolysis   process was modelled using the Michaelis Menten kinetic model with kinetic parameters obtained from   experimental data. The results of this study lead to an enhanced process of the enzymatic hydrolysis of oil palm petiole, whichwas shown to follow the Michaelis Menten kinetic  model and the kinetic parameters including Km and Vm were obtained, they were 6.433 g/L  andVm= 0.042 g/L/min. The optimum hydrolysis condition wereobserved to be at temperature 50oC and pH 4.8. Keywords: enzymatic hydrolysis; glucose; kinetic modelling; oil palm petioles; xylose