Chemical and Physical Process Combinations: Microwave in Lignin Degradation of Pecan Shells as Alternative Fuel Raw Materials

Abstract

Pecan shell is an abundant amount of biomass waste and has the potential as one of the fuels, with a very hard texture and having holocellulose content of 49.22% and lignin 54.46%. Whereas the pecan shell composition after in the form of 100 mesh powder was 33% hemicellulose, 17% cellulose and 34% lignin. In order to be used as an alternative fuel, one of the initial stages that needs to be carried out is through the process of degradation of lignin or the delignification of components present in pecan shells. The process of concentration and microwave process time at microwave power 440 Watts was successfully degraded through a combination of chemical and physical processes with variables of NaOH. The NaOH concentrations used were 1N, 2N, and 3N while the delignification times were 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 minutes. From the analysis with the Chesson method, the lowest lignin levels reached 6% at 2N NaOH concentration and 20 minutes process time. With the data generated, it can be concluded that the process of combination of chemistry and physics can reduce lignin levels in pecan shell powder by 82.35% Keywords—Delignification, NaOH-Microwave, Cellulose, Hemicellulose, lignin