PYROLYSIS OF EMPTY FRUIT BUNCHES: INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE ON THE YIELDS AND COMPOSITION OF GASEOUS PRODUCT
- 1 Engineering and Processing Division, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, No. 6, Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia
Abstract
With the increasing concern on fossil fuel depletion and environmental problems, the utilization of renewable biomass resources is expected to play an important role in the future. Biomass can be converted into a variety of fuels and chemicals by different processes; one of which is pyrolysis that has been subjected to extensive research in recent years. In this study, pyrolysis of oil palm Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) was investigated using a quartz fluidised-fixed bed reactor. The effects of pyrolysis temperatures on the yields and composition of gaseous products were investigated. The temperatures of pyrolysis used were in the range of 300-600°C. The gaseous products from pyrolysis of (EFB) were analyzed using a dual-channel micro-GC with Thermal Conductivity Detector (TCD). The highest and lowest gas yields obtained were 42.98 and 31.55% at 600 and 300°C, respectively. The gases detected were Carbon Monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Ethane (C2H6) and Ethylene (C2H4). At 300 and 400°C, the gas mixture comprised mainly CO2 (20%) and CO (20%). Other gases such as CH4, C2H4 and C2H6 only evolved at higher temperature starting from 400°C with the yield of the latter two gases in very low concentration.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/ajassp.2014.606.610
Copyright: © 2014 Mohamad Azri Sukiran, Loh Soh Kheang, Nasrin Abu Bakar and Choo Yuen May. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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Keywords
- Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB)
- Pyrolysis
- Gas Yields
- Biomass