Characterization of date palm frond as a fuel for thermal conversion processes

Abstract

Abstract. Date palm fronds (DPF) have similar physical appearances to those of oil palm fronds and coconut palm fronds, which have been reported as having good potential as a source of energy through thermochemical conversion of biomass. However, nearly no report has been found pertaining to thermochemical properties of DPF. Hence, it has remained unclear whether DPF can become suitable feedstock for power generation. This study investigated the characteristics of DPF as a potential solid fuel for heat and power generation through various thermal conversion processes. DPF samples from selected sites in Sudan and Saudi Arabia were tested. The ultimate and proximate analyses and the calorific value of DPF were measured, and the results were compared with low to medium-rank coals and other common biomass materials. The calorific value range for DPF samples was found to be between 16.2 to 16.9 MJ/kg. The ultimate analysis of DPF samples revealed that more than 75% of their mass was composed of volatile materials, while the ash content in all samples was found to be less than 15%. The range of elementary carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen in DPF samples was found to be typical to that in biomass. The thermal decomposition trends the samples indicated the high reactivity of DPF with rising temperatures due to high holocellulose content. No distinctive differences in test results were observed between samples from Saudi Arabia and Northern Sudan. Overall, it was found that all DPF samples used in this study fulfilled the typical requirements for development and utilization as a solid fuel.

Assessing the Technical and Environmental Potential of Coconut Shell Biomass: Experimental Study through Pyrolysis and Gasification

“…In the current investigation, the calorific value of the feedstock was determined to be 20.33 MJ/kg greater than the value of coal, which is 16.16 MJ/kg 33) . The calorific value of biomass typically falls between 15 and 20 MJ/kg, which is comparable to the calorific value of a low-rank coal 37) . A high value of lignin in given biomass shows the suitability of the biomass to present high calorific value.…”

“…A high value of lignin in given biomass shows the suitability of the biomass to present high calorific value. Lignin is the hardest to thermally decompose and contain the highest amount of energy in a biomass 37) . The energy content of the feedstock material of this study was found to be higher than the values of all the biomass presented in Table 1 including coal, except date palm seed and palm kernel shell (PKS).…”

“…Hence, does not require any further filtration before utilization to reduce the emissions. Biomass with high nitrogen and/or sulfur results in a significant impact on operating outlay 37,42) . Coconut shells possess considerably higher value of oxygen in comparison to coal and other biomasses from Table 2.…”

Numerical Evaluation of Biochar Production Performance of Downdraft Gasifier by Thermodynamic Model

“…Table 1 shows the ultimate and proximate analysis of the biomass listed from India [24][25][26][27][28][29]. The average LHV of woody biomass is reported to be 15,435 kJ/kg at dry condition.…”

A techno-economic and environmental analysis of co-firing implementation using coal and wood bark blend at circulating fluidized bed boiler

“…By the end of 2023, studies on new types of biomass as alternative co-firing fuel were conducted on a laboratory-scale. This includes characterization of palm frond and stem biomass (Sadig et al, 2017;Umar et al, 2020) and cofiring wet hog-sludge fuel with coal in combustion tests, which contribute to higher sulfur dioxide emission (Laursen & Grace, 2002) or direct co-firing testing at CFPP.…”