Co-pyrolysis of palm empty fruit bunch and palm kernel shell with palm oil mill effluent (POME) sludge


Citation

Navin Raj Vijiaretnam, . and Wong Choon Fai, . and Suchithra Thangalazhy Gopakumar, . and Lim Chu Gen, . and Chow Li Wen, . and Chong Yen Yee, . and Teoh Jia Yun, . and Harvindran Vasu, . and Tio Shu Anne, . Co-pyrolysis of palm empty fruit bunch and palm kernel shell with palm oil mill effluent (POME) sludge. pp. 1-9. ISSN 2289-1692

Abstract

In Malaysia the largest contributor to biomass is from the palm oil sector. Therefore palm-based biomass has been extensively studied for bioenergy applications. Fast pyrolysis of biomass provides a liquid fuel called bio-oil which has many potential uses. However a low pH of bio-oil made a challenge to utilize as it is. Therefore in this study empty fruit bunch (EFB) and palm kernel shell (PKS) were subjected to co-pyrolysis with POME sludge individually. The reason behind this was that the bio-oil derived from EFB and PKS are acidic whereas bio-oil from POME sludge is basic. Hence it was hypothesised that through the co-pyrolysis bio-oil with lower acidity might be obtained. Chemical characterization revealed that POME sludge contains alkali and alkaline earth metals (AAEMs) which may play a significant role in influencing the weight loss of EFB and PKS also the bio-oil yield. The co-pyrolysis of EFB and PKS with POME sludge at different ratios were initially carried out via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Results showed that for the co-pyrolysis of PKS a positive synergistic effect was observed when 50 wt. of POME sludge was employed. Then pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis experiments were carried out in a fixed bed reactor at 600C. The bio-oil yield obtained from PKS was 44.5 0.7 wt.. In contradiction to TGA studies the bio-oil yield for co-pyrolysis of PKS and POME sludge showed a negative synergistic effect.


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Abstract

In Malaysia the largest contributor to biomass is from the palm oil sector. Therefore palm-based biomass has been extensively studied for bioenergy applications. Fast pyrolysis of biomass provides a liquid fuel called bio-oil which has many potential uses. However a low pH of bio-oil made a challenge to utilize as it is. Therefore in this study empty fruit bunch (EFB) and palm kernel shell (PKS) were subjected to co-pyrolysis with POME sludge individually. The reason behind this was that the bio-oil derived from EFB and PKS are acidic whereas bio-oil from POME sludge is basic. Hence it was hypothesised that through the co-pyrolysis bio-oil with lower acidity might be obtained. Chemical characterization revealed that POME sludge contains alkali and alkaline earth metals (AAEMs) which may play a significant role in influencing the weight loss of EFB and PKS also the bio-oil yield. The co-pyrolysis of EFB and PKS with POME sludge at different ratios were initially carried out via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Results showed that for the co-pyrolysis of PKS a positive synergistic effect was observed when 50 wt. of POME sludge was employed. Then pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis experiments were carried out in a fixed bed reactor at 600C. The bio-oil yield obtained from PKS was 44.5 0.7 wt.. In contradiction to TGA studies the bio-oil yield for co-pyrolysis of PKS and POME sludge showed a negative synergistic effect.

Additional Metadata

[error in script]
Item Type: Article
AGROVOC Term: Palm kernels
AGROVOC Term: Palm oils
AGROVOC Term: Pyrolysis
AGROVOC Term: Synergistic effect
AGROVOC Term: Moisture content
AGROVOC Term: Volatile compounds
AGROVOC Term: Thermogravimetric analysis
AGROVOC Term: Scanning microscopy
AGROVOC Term: Analysis of variance
AGROVOC Term: Weight losses
Depositing User: Mr. AFANDI ABDUL MALEK
Last Modified: 24 Apr 2025 00:55
URI: http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/9414

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