초록
<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Pretreatment of the empty fruit brunch (EFB) from oil palm was investigated for H<SUB>2</SUB> fermentation. The EFB was hydrolyzed at various temperatures, H<SUB>2</SUB>SO<SUB>4</SUB> concentrations, and reaction times. Subsequently, the acid-hydrolysate underwent enzymatic saccharification under various temperature, pH, and enzymatic loading conditions. Response surface methodology derived the optimum sugar concentration (SC), hydrogen production rate (HPR), and hydrogen yield (HY) as 28.30 g L<SUP>−1</SUP>, 2601.24 mL H<SUB>2</SUB> L<SUP>−1</SUP>d<SUP>−1</SUP>, and 275.75 mL H<SUB>2</SUB> g<SUP>−1</SUP> total sugar (TS), respectively, at 120 °C, 60 min of reaction, and 6 vol% H<SUB>2</SUB>SO<SUB>4</SUB>, with the combined severity factor of 1.75. Enzymatic hydrolysis enhanced the SC, HY, and HPR to 34.52 g L<SUP>−1</SUP>, 283.91 mL H<SUB>2</SUB> g<SUP>−1</SUP> TS, and 3266.86 mL H<SUB>2</SUB> L<SUP>−1</SUP>d<SUP>−1</SUP>, respectively, at 45 °C, pH 5.0, and 1.17 mg enzyme mL<SUP>−1</SUP>. Dilute acid hydrolysis would be a viable pretreatment for biohydrogen production from EFB. Subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis can be performed if enhanced HPR is required.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Dilute acid and enzymatic hydrolysis were optimized for oil palm empty fruit bunch. </LI> <LI> Response surface methodology was used for optimization of pretreatment. </LI> <LI> Dilute acid hydrolysis effectively pretreated the biomass for H<SUB>2</SUB> fermentation. </LI> <LI> Subsequent enzymatic saccharification enhanced H<SUB>2</SUB> production rate. </LI> </UL> </P>