Furfural is a chemical compound produced by biomass rich in pentoses content in the hemicellulose as raw material, in a reaction catalysed in presence of strong acids. This study determines the process parameters for converting xylan, extracted from oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB), into furfural using a two-step process, namely acid hydrolysis, followed by dehydration. Xylan was first extracted from OPEFB using direct alkaline extraction method. The resulting xylan was then treated with a known concentration of sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) (ranging from 11% v/v~15% v/v) with reaction time (ranging from 30-150 min), with or without presence of sodium chloride (NaCl) as co-catalyst to produce xylose. After dehydration process, xylose was converted into furfural with parameters as in dehydration process. Furfural was characterised using Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) and Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR). FTIR spectrum exhibited a very strong absorption at 1706 cm^–1, indicating the presence of the conjugated carbonyl (C=O) group. The highest yield of furfural produced was 9.01% after treatment with 15% H₂SO₄ using NaCl as catalyst for 90 min. However, pentosans only contribute a portion of the total composition of lignocellulose, compared to cellulose which is the largest fraction of lignocellulosic biomass. Therefore, the furfural should be extracted using an integrated value economy method.

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