Case study for a palm biomass biorefinery utilizing renewable non-food sugars from oil palm frond for the production of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) bioplastic

Published Date
Journal of Cleaner Production
15 January 2015, Vol.87:284–290, doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.10.010

• Author 

• Mior Ahmad Khushairi Mohd Zahari ^a,b
• Hidayah Ariffin ^c,d
• Mohd Noriznan Mokhtar ^a
• Jailani Salihon ^e
• Yoshihito Shirai ^f
• Mohd Ali Hassan ^a,c,,

• aDepartment of Process and Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
• bFaculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, 26300 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
• cDepartment of Bioprocess Technology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
• dLaboratory of Biopolymer and Derivatives, Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
• eFaculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
• fDepartment of Biological Functions and Engineering, Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 2-4 Hibikino, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 808-0196, Japan

Received 13 December 2013. Revised 9 September 2014. Accepted 4 October 2014. Available online 12 October 2014. 

Highlights

• •
  Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P(3HB), can be produced from oil palm frond sugars.
• •
  The P(3HB) production cost is estimated at $ 3.44/kg P(3HB).
• •
  This cost is 41% lower compared to using commercial glucose.

Abstract

In this paper, we assess the economic viability of renewable non-food sugars from oil palm frond (OPF) as fermentation feedstock for the production of the bioplastic, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P(3HB) within an integrated palm biomass biorefinery. The production cost of P(3HB) is estimated based on 9900 t/y of the potential amount of renewable sugars that can be produced from OPF in a typical palm oil mill in Malaysia. Based on the case study, approximately 99,780 t/y of renewable sugars could be produced from 10 neighbouring palm oil mills, each with the capacity to process an average of 200,000 t/y of fresh fruit bunch (FFB). With 20,000 t/y of P(3HB) production, the specific production cost of P(3HB) using renewable sugars from OPF is estimated at $ 3.44/kg P(3HB), which is 41% lower compared with that produced from commercial glucose.

Keywords

Biorefinery

Oil palm frond

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)

Renewable sugars

Oil palm biomass

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• ∗ 
  Corresponding author. Department of Bioprocess Technology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. Tel.: +60 3 8947 1047; fax: +60 3 8946 7590.

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