Production of Biosurfactant in 2L Bioreactor Using Sludge Palm Oil as a Substrate

In this study, sludge palm oil was utilized as a raw material for process optimization in a stirred tank bioreactor for the biosurfactant production. Optimized parameters include temperature, agitation and aeration while the pH and media compositions such as NaNO3, NaCl, FeSO4, Meat extract, and glucose have been fixed from the previous study. The design of this research was made by using the Design-Expert software (2 level factorial design). Surface tension was used as indirect indicator for biosurfactant production. After model validation, yield of biosurfactant was found to be highest when surface tension was at its lowest value (<24 mN/m) at temperature of 300C , agitation 300 rpm and around 0.5 vvm of aeration with percentage error less than 10% between observed value and predicted value. The finding in this research can be applied to produce biosurfactant in large amount from the less expensive material such as sludge palm oil by using the same optimized model equation.