JAKARTA – Despite being able to produce bulletproof vests, Indonesia has to import all of its raw materials. But a researcher from the faculty of mathematics and natural sciences (FMNS) at Bogor University of Agriculture (IPB) has managed to make bulletproof vest from the oil palm empty fruit bunches.

Siti Nikmatin, the IPB researcher, managed to process the palm empty fruit bunches into natural fiber that can be used as the raw material to produce the bulletproof vests, which are needed to support Indonesia’s primary weaponry defense system (Alutsista) for ensuring its sovereignty and state security.

Such innovation is a good news for Indonesia which has to import carbon Kevlar fiber as the raw material to produce bulletproof vests. It can save foreign exchange and strengthen Indonesian industries, especially its defense industry.

Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of crude palm oil (CPO). Besides producing the CPO, the oil palm plantations also produce several kinds of wastes, which include palm trunks, fronds, palm shells, palm empty fruit bunches, mesocarp fiber and palm oil effluent (POME).

Regarding the palm empty bunches, every hectare of oil palm plantation usually produces around 7.7 million tons of palm empty fruit bunches per year. Based on data from the agriculture ministry, in 2019 Indonesia has a total oil palm plantation acreage of 16.38 million hectares with various ages that determine productivity.

”By utilizing the empty bunches, we can make product diversification. We can produce a substitute to the synthetic Kevlar fiber. Hopefully, this innovation can stand as a solution,” said Siti.

She noted that the natural fiber from the palm empty bunches has several advantages compared to the synthetic fiber. Based on researches, the advantages include the abundance of its raw material in Indonesia, sustainable, renewable and biodegradable, cheap price, can be processed with simple technology, and has good mechanical and thermal properties.

Processing Process

The palm empty fruit bunches have two important parts, namely spikelet and stalk. It is the stalk part that is processed into the fiber for raw material of making the bulletproof vests. The stalk is cleaned, and then it is soaked with fireproof material (CaOH2) and molar concentration for 30 minutes before being unraveled into twisted threads. To strengthen it, epoxy is done by using the mixture of epoxy and hardener with the ratio of 1:1 on bulletproof composite application.

The threads are then woven into sheets of cloth by using non-mechanical loom. To make bulletproof vests, the woven sheets of cloth are stacked up to 15 layers like sandwich.

By using press machine, the layers are then pressed to make its thickness at 2 centimeters. Without pressing, its thickness can reach up to 10-20 centimeters. After that, the process is the same with that of the conventional bulletproof vests. “The research on this is financially supported by the oil palm plantation fund management board (BPDPKS),” she said.

Test result

Siti said that they have managed to make a prototype of the bulletproof vests from the palm empty bunches. “Based on ballistic macro test, bulletproof sheets from the palm empty bunches are bullet impenetrable,” she said.

According to her, the ballistic test uses the firearm of Glock Inc Smyrna Ga type with its bullets of MUI-JHP A1 9 x 19 mm type that has mass of 12,25 g. In the test, the bullets were shot at the speed of 320 meters per second with shooting range of 30 meters and the assumption of the bullets move in straight line.

The ballistic test result shows that the fiber material from the palm empty fruit bunches is able to absorb momentum of 392 x 104 kg.m/s2 and spread the kinetic energy to the entire area of bulletproof sheets. That way the bullets are moved into the direction of gravity. Based on visual observation, the bulletproof sheets show no indication of cracks or breaks.

Siti said that a number of further tests are needed to make further improvements to the bulletproof material, especially its flexibility.

The test also shows that the bulletproof vest from the palm empty fruit bunches are not comfortable as it is too stiff and too heavy to wear. Further ballistic test is also needed with the use of long-barreled gun before being finally used in the field. The further test is also aimed to see its impact on user’s organs.

”Hopefully, this research can be widely applied for the use of the alternative bulletproof material, which is now still 100% imported. This is needed to support our primary weaponry defense system (Alutsista) to strengthen our national defense,” said Siti.

Separately, IPB University Rector Arif Satria said that besides the bulletproof vests, other researchers of IPB University had also conducted other researches on the use of palm oil wastes. Innovative products resulted from the palm oil waste researches include organic hand sanitizer, helmets, clothes and others.

Based on data from BPDPKS, currently the biomass from oil palm trees, such as palm fronds, trunks, palm shells, mesocarp fiber, palm empty fruit bunches, and palm kernel meal (PKM), have been utilized although not yet optimal.

For example, the palm empty fruit bunches and fronds are used as mulch in the plantations, liquid waste for biogas, PKM as mixture of fodder, and other wastes for fertilizers.

Besides, the BPDPKS in its research and development (R&D) program has also financed a number of research projects to utilize the wastes from the oil palm plantations, such as the processing of the palm empty fruit bunches and trunks.

The palm empty fruit bunches are also potential for making bio-composite for production of helmets, polyester, bio-plastics, bio-oil/biogas and dimethyl-ether (DME) for substitution of LPG. The palm tree trunks can be used as raw material for the production of plywood, starch glucose, and lactic acid. (*)

Source: Kompas.id | Featured image via IPB Media