THE USE OF COMPRESSED FLUIDS TO OBTAIN BIOCOMPOSITES FROM PALM OIL FIBER (Elaeis sp.)

Abstract Empty fruit bunch fiber (EFBF) is a lignocellulosic waste generated by the palm oil agribusiness. The amount of EFBF produced is equal to the oil obtained, and it can be used as raw material to obtain biocomposites. The objective of this work is to fragment the EFBF employing pressurized fluids in a semi-continuous system to obtain different biocomposites. For this, pure water and a mixture of water/carbon dioxide were employed as solvent to obtain sugar monomers and a mixture of compressed water/ethanol (1:1 vol.) to obtain crystalline cellulose. The experiments were conducted in the temperature range of 120 to 240 ºC, using reaction times between 5 and 15 min at 60 bar, and solvent flow rate of 0.75 mL.min-1. A maximum of 30.47 mg.mL-1 of xylose was obtained at 210 ºC for 15 min of reaction with pure water as solvent. The best condition to obtain crystalline cellulose was 240 ºC for 30 minutes of reaction, obtaining 38.2% of cellulose from palm oil EFBF.

摘要：空果串纤维（Empty fruit bunch fiber, EFBF）是棕榈油农业综合产业产生的木质纤维素类废弃物，其产量与所提取的棕榈油相当，可作为制备生物复合材料的原料。本研究旨在通过半连续体系中的加压流体对空果串纤维进行破碎处理，以获取不同类型的生物复合材料。为此，实验分别采用纯水以及水/二氧化碳混合体系作为溶剂以获取单糖单体，同时采用压缩水与乙醇按体积比1:1混合的溶剂以获取结晶纤维素。实验设置的温度范围为120~240℃，反应压力维持60 bar，反应时长为5~15 min，溶剂流速为0.75 mL·min⁻¹。当以纯水为溶剂、反应温度210℃、反应时长15 min时，可获得最高浓度为30.47 mg·mL⁻¹的木糖。获取结晶纤维素的最优工艺条件为240℃、反应30 min，从棕榈油空果串纤维中可提取得到38.2%的纤维素。