Optimization of Furfural Liquid-Liquid Extraction from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Hydrolysate Solution with Solvent Variations

Furfural is a compound widely used in the pharmaceutical, resins, and petroleum industries with continuous increases in price and demand every year. Liquid-liquid extraction is a purification method with great potential as a more sustainable option for furfural purification compared to distillation method. This research aimed to use liquid-liquid extraction to increase furfural yield from the Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) hydrolysate model. In this research, solvents with high affinity towards furfural such as 1-butanol, MIBK, and toluene were used as solvent at extraction temperatures of 65°C, 85°C, and 105°C, with extraction time of 30, 60, and 90 minutes. Determination of furfural concentration in the extract is carried out using HPLC. The operating condition is optimized with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to obtain optimum value of each parameter and investigate the effects of extraction time, temperature, and solvent selection on furfural percent recovery. The optimum operating condition for furfural liquid-liquid extraction is obtained at 105°C for 30 minutes using MIBK as a solvent, which resulted in 49.103% recovery of furfural. This research has provided the most efficient liquid-liquid extraction condition that produces the highest percent recovery of furfural from the OPEFB hydrolysate model.