Carbonization of Empty Fruit Bunch Using Hydrothermal Method
Sustainable process-product development & green chemistry
Environmental Engineering & Management (T1-3P)
Keywords: Empty fruit bunch, Carbonization, Hydrothermal
The disposal of empty fruit bunch (EFB) is an important problem in palm oil production industry. Regularly, it is produced from palm oil mills after the removal of oil palm fruits for the oil production. More than 8 million ton of EFB is generated annually in Malaysia and Indonesia. A part of the EFB is used boiler fuel and fertilizers. However, most of it is unused. Consequently, the valuable energy contained in woody waste is lost without utilization in the energy cycle.
We have been carried out research for the utilization of EFB as a fuel. To produce charcoal, EFB was treated under hydrothermal condition at 423-623 K without a catalyst, and then compared it with carbonization under dry nitrogen condition. The charcoal yields were 31.4% under hydrothermal condition at 573K and 27.8% under dry condition at 873K, respectively. The carbon content of charcoal was almost equal value between under hydrothermal condition at 573K and under dry condition at 873K. The heating value of charcoal obtained from hydrothermal condition at 573K was high (25.8MJ/kg), compared with it obtained from dry condition at 873K (22.0MJ/kg). It is suitable as an energy feedstock. The studies clarified that the carbonization of EFB was promoted at low temperature under hydrothermal condition.
Presented Monday 17, 13:30 to 15:00, in session Environmental Engineering & Management (T1-3P).
