Nur Yasmin Najihah Binti Yahaya, <br/><br/>
Hydrothermal pretreatment of palm oil mesocarp fiber :  a simulation study / 
Nur Yasmin Najihah Binti Yahaya 
 - xi, 36 pages :  illustrations ; 
<br/><br/> Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology 
<br/><br/>Final Year Report (Bachelor of Chemical Engineering ) -- Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah - 2024 
<br/><br/>Include bibliographical reference 
<br/><br/> Palm oil mesocarp fiber (POMF) is a lignocellulosic biomass waste produced by the palm oil industry that can be further converted to other products. Abundant quantities of POMF waste generated have caused air pollutions due to improper burning. Hydrothermal pretreatment, particularly steam explosion depolymerizes lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars. The variability in POMF composition poses challenges in obtaining consistent sugar yield, investigating processing parameters in real studies, and making experimental research susceptible to human error. Therefore, simulation using Aspen Plus has been utilized to assist in providing valuable data in process parameters evaluations. This research study aims to determine the effect of POMF composition on the production of sugar in steam explosion using Aspen Plus and to study the effect of reaction temperature (110ºC - 220ºC) and residence time (3.5 minutes – 30 minutes) on the production of sugar in steam explosion using Aspen Plus. Steam explosion was analyzed in term of the sugars, acetic acid, and the degradation products yields and conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose. Increasing composition of hemicellulose and cellulose did not have significant effect on their conversions but increased the glucose and acetic acid formation with insignificant production amount of xylose, furfural and 5-HMF. Increasing the reaction temperature not only increased hemicellulose conversion but also achieved complete cellulose conversion before 150°C, leading to increased yields of glucose and xylose with insignificant amount of furfural and 5-HMF. Increased in residence time led to increase of hemicellulose and cellulose conversion as well as an increase in glucose and acetic acid produced with insignificant amount of xylose, furfural and 5-HMF. Therefore, the POMF compositions, reaction temperatures and residence time in steam explosion did affect the conversion and yield of sugars, acetic acid, and the degradation products. Keywords: Steam explosion, degradation products, sugars, palm oil mesocarp fiber, Aspen Plus simulation 
<br/><br/><label>ISBN: </label>THE0010628 (Local) 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Corporate Names: </label><br/>Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology--Dissertations
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Universities and colleges--Dissertations<br/>Theses--Dissertations