Enhanced oil palm waste properties through torrefaction and pelletization

Sambeth, Sharwin Kumar and Chandran, T. S. T. and Suriyati, Saleh and Noor Asma Fazli, Abdul Samad (2021) Enhanced oil palm waste properties through torrefaction and pelletization. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 1092 (012056). pp. 1-11. ISSN 1757-899X. (Published)

[img]
Preview
Pdf
Saleh et al 2021_Torrefaction & Pelletization.pdf
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (722kB) | Preview

Abstract

Torrefaction is a thermal pre-treatment process to treat biomass at temperature range of 200-300℃ under an inert atmosphere. It was known that torrefaction process strongly depended on the decomposition of the lignocellulosic constituents in oil palm waste namely hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. The objective of this research is to study the effect of torrefaction on the characteristics of pellet formed from palm mesocarp fiber (PMF), oil palm frond (OPF) and palm kernel shell (PKS) as a solid fuel. The samples were torrefied at 270°C for 30 minutes. The torrefied samples were then densified into pellets through hot press machine at different temperatures (110 °C, 130 °C, 150 °C) and different pressure (10 MPa, 12 MPa, 14 MPa) for 20 minutes to find the optimum pelletization condition. The pellets were analyzed through mass yield, high heating value, fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis, moisture absorption and compression test. Compression test is to study the strength of pellet by identifying the force required to break the pellet. The result shows that the mass yield of PKS was higher than PMF and OPF. The high heating value of torrefied oil palm waste improved as compared to the raw oil palm waste. Through FTIR, the changes of chemical bonds in oil palm waste after torrefaction have been identified. From the analysis of the pellet, the optimum conditions for pelletization were obtained, which are 130 °C and 12 MPa. The moisture absorption rate of torrefied pellet was lesser than raw pellets. Lastly, the torrefaction and pelletization process produced better quality pellets in term of high heating value, durability and more hydrophobic compared to raw pellets which can used as biofuel to replace the coal.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Thermal pre-treatment process; Torrefaction process; Oil palm waste; Agriculture
Subjects: T Technology > TP Chemical technology
Faculty/Division: Institute of Postgraduate Studies
College of Engineering
Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology
Depositing User: Dr. Suriyati Saleh
Date Deposited: 11 Mar 2025 05:16
Last Modified: 11 Mar 2025 05:16
URI: http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44042
Download Statistic: View Download Statistics

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item