The Effect of Particle Size of Empty Fruit Bunch and Ratio of Biosludge of Pulp and Paper on Biochemical Changes in Composting Process

Abstract

The abundance of empty fruit bunches (EFB) is a result of many palm oil industries increasing their crude palm oil production. Composting is a good, environmentally friendly alternative to overcome EFB. Two different ratios of EFB with biosludge of pulp and paper of 1 : 1 and 3 : 2, respectively, were used in this composting. The particle size of EFB was set into three different sizes of 0.5; 1.5 and 2.5 cm. The best treatment that was obtained from this study was SR4 where the EFB particle size was 1.5 cm, and the ratio between EFB and biosludge of pulp and paper was 3 : 2, respectively. The nitrogen value of SR4 increased from 1.41% to 2.71%, and C/N ratio decreased from 36.74 to 12.17 in 90 days. The population peak of bacteria of SR4 in the thermopilic phase achieved about 33.67 x 1010 cfu/g. These two treatment combinations had shown an increase in EFB composting efficiency.

Pengaruh Bioaktivator Selulolitik untuk Mempercepat Pengomposan Tandan Kosong Kelapa Sawit (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)

“…Menurut Widiastuti et al, (2015), peningkatan kadar N-total bisa disebabkan karena proses dekomposisi TKKS oleh mikroorganisme mengubah ammonia menjadi nitrit serta dapat disebabkan karena penambahan kotoran ayam yang juga mengandung amoniak yang tinggi. Kadar Ntotal pada penelitian ini lebih rendah dari penelitian Desrihastuti et al, (2019), yang melaporkan bahwa kandungan N-total yang didapat dalam mengomposkan TKKS dengan biosludge dari bubur kertas dengan inkubasi 90 hari yaitu sebesar 2,71. Berbeda waktu inkubasi yang digunakan di dalam proses pengomposan TKKS juga akan mempengaruhi jumlah N-total yang dihasilkan.…”

Composting of EFB and POME Using a Step-feeding Strategy in a Rotary Drum Reactor: The Effect of Active Aeration and Mixing Ratio on Composting Performance

“…However, toward the end of the process, nitrogen content was increased. This is because most of the nitrification process takes place in the mesophilic phase with a temperature between 20ºC and 35ºC [8].…”

“…According to [34], the increase in temperature in the thermophilic phase for 3-4 days is enough to destroy pathogens and parasites in compost. The decreasing temperature due to the activity of thermophilic microorganisms had subsided, and mesophilic microorganisms forwarded the decomposition process by recolonizing the substrate [8]. Stable temperature at the end of the process indicates that the decomposition rate of organic matter was reduced [35].…”

“…According to [3], the normal use rate of EFB is 40-70 tons per hectare. Research on the decomposition characteristics of EFB during the composting process was carried out by many researchers until this recent year [4][5][6][7][8][9]. The main constituents in EFB contain 45-50% cellulose, 25-35% hemicellulose and 19-20% lignin [10][11][12].…”