海角社区

Irnia Nurika, Eka Nur Shabrina, Nurul Azizah, Sri Suhartini, Guy C. Barker, Timothy D.H. Bugg

This study assesses the facultative anaerobe Comamonas testosteroni as a mild, chemical-free pre-treatment for valorising oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) into biomethane and lignin-derived aromatics. Incubation with 2鈥�% (v/v) C. testosteroni for 7 days at 30 掳C, reduced lignin to 15.67鈥�% (33.42鈥�% removal), while retaining high cellulose (53.48–56.19鈥�%) and hemicellulose (up to 16.21鈥�%). Pre-treated OPEFB showed 20鈥�% weight loss (vs 8鈥�% in controls) and a 51鈥�% rise in total soluble phenols, evidencing active lignin depolymerisation. GC–MS of liquor and solids qualitatively confirmed lignin breakdown and identified representative low-molecular-weight products (e.g., phenol, betulin, acetic acid and benzoxazole), supporting co-product potential. In biochemical methane potential tests, the pre-treated residue achieved a specific methane potential of 0.173鈥痬鲁鈥疌H₄ kg鈦宦光�疺S, an 85鈥�% increase over the abiotic residue and higher than non-treated OPEFB. Kinetic fitting with Transference, Modified Gompertz and Logistic models yielded good agreement (R² up to 0.92), with Modified Gompertz best capturing cumulative methane production and the shortest lag phases. A simple energy check indicates a favourable margin: the incremental methane (螖SMP 鈮� 0.08鈥痬鲁 CH鈧� kg鈦宦� VS) equates 鈭�0.8 kWh kg鈦宦光�疺S, whereas estimated mixing for pre-treatment is 鈭�0.017–0.034 kWh kg鈦宦光�疺S. Overall C. testosteroni pre-treatment enables dual valorisation (biomethane plus aromatics) under mesophilic conditions, offering a practical route for integrated OPEFB biorefineries.