Coconut fiber is a natural fiber extracted from coconut coir, a by-product of coconut based product. It is a potential material for fiberboard because it contains high cellulose and lignin which is similar to wood. Binderless medium density fiberboard (MDF) from coconut fiber was produced to reduce the consumption of wood and the emmission of synthetic adhesives such as urea formaldehyde using lignin as natural binder. The purpose of this research were to determine the physical and mechanical properties of MDF from coconut fiber based on SNI 01-4449-2006 and JIS A 5905:2003 and to investigate the effect of oxidation treatment, additional paraffin, and pressing time to the physical and mechanical properties of the fiberboard. The results showed that the fiberboards produced on this research had medium density of 0.44-0.56 g/cm3 which met the standard for MDF. Most of fiberboards from coconut fiber obtained in this study met the standard for physical properties such as density, moisture content, thickness swelling, and screw holding power. However, the mechanical properties such as modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, and internal bond of the fiberboards had not met the SNI 01-4449-2006 and JIS A 5905:2003 because of the lack of materials strength.

The objective of this study was to analyse the life cycle of the coconut oil industry and process improvement alternatives. The life cycle analysis (LCA) method are based on the scope of the gate to gate. This study shows that the input for coconut oil production consists of copra as the main raw material and several supporting materials and energy. The outputs are coconut oil, coconut pulp pellets, and waste (liquid, solid, and gas). The total potential GHG emissions, acidification, and eutrophication per-kg-coconut-oil-products are 2.9271 kg-CO2 eq, 0.0178 kg-SO2-eq, and 0.0145 kg-PO4-3-eq. The highest GHG emissions produced from the Crude Coconut Oil Plant sub-system was 1.2045 kg-CO2eq per-kg-coconut-oil. The acidification potential produced from the Boiler Plant and Transportation sub-system with the potential value was 0.0094 kg-SO2-eq and 0.0084 kg-SO2-eq per-kg-coconut-oil, respectively. The eutrophication potential produced from the Boiler Plant and Transportation sub-system with a potential value was 0.0026 kg-PO4-3-eq and 0.0119 kg PO4-3-eq pe- kg-coconut-oil, respectively. Optimization of energy usage can be done by optimizing fuel, water, and electricity in each sub-system of coconut oil production. The NEV and NER values result in 40,998,456 MJ and 1.0971, respectively.

The drying performance technology is one of the most critical operations in copra production. This study aims to identify various drying methods in copra production and determine the best copra drying method based on the criteria of drying operation, environmental impact, and copra product quality. The research was carried out with the stage of identifying the drying methods of copra through literature studies and secondary data collection and continued with the stage of determining the best drying method using the composite performance index (CPI) method. Of nine drying methods, six range were identified as coconut processing scale 20–1200 kg, copra drying temperature 40–70°C, drying time 7.9-48 hours, drying rate 1.05–5.70%/hour, energy use 110.7–32140 kJ/kg-product, and the emission of 0.1–34.074 kg-CO2/kg-product. The nine methods of drying copra produce good quality copra based on copra product standards. Based on the calculation of alternative values using the CPI method, it has been shown that the best drying method was using a dryer with a drying temperature of 68°C and a drying rate of 5.70 %/hour. This drying method uses the energy of 14824 kJ/kg product and produces an emission value of 1.25 kg-CO2/kg product. The copra produced by this drying method gives 5% moisture, 60% oil, and 1% free fatty acid. Keywords: coconut, composite performance index, copra, drying technology