Improved yield and higher heating value of biochar from oil palm biomass at low retention time under self-sustained carbonization

Abstract

a b s t r a c tOil palm biochar with high yield and higher heating value under low energy requirement is required for improved waste management and utilization in the palm oil industry. This paper presents, a selfsustained carbonization of oil palm empty fruit bunch biomass, without internal heating element, which produced high biochar yield and higher heating value. Three different particle sizes of pressedshredded oil palm empty fruit bunch biomass, i.e. below 29 mm, 30e99 mm and 100e150 mm, at 8 e10% moisture content were used. The carbonization temperature was monitored and used as an indicator to stop the carbonization prior to harvesting. The maximum carbonization temperature recorded was 600 C. In our previous report, harvested at 300 C under uncontrolled exhausted air flow rate and found that the higher heating values obtained were 23.0e25.0 MJ/kg. However the biochar yield was only 14e16 %. In order to increase the yield of biochar, the exhaust air flow rate has been fixed at 36 m 3 / hr by using an air suction blower to ensure uniform circulation and distribution of hot air from top to bottom before being discharged. The biochar was harvested when the temperature of the bed decreased to 500 C. The particle size range from 100 to 150 mm produced the highest biochar yield of 26.0 ± 1.2% with higher heating value of 23.0e23.5 MJ/kg within 5e8 h retention time. The gaseous emissions were lower than permitted level set by the environmental authorities. The technology developed in this study should be used to improve the management and utilization of oil palm biomass towards a more sustainable palm oil industry.

Oil Palm Biomass Biorefinery for Sustainable Production of Renewable Materials

“…Despite the lower costs of this technology, the quality of the product produced was as good as those produced using the high‐end technology. Based on the results, 26 wt% of the biocharcoal yield was obtained with a calorific content of 25 MJ kg −1 , which was higher than conventional charcoal …”

Engineered Biochar Production and Its Potential Benefits in a Closed-Loop Water-Reuse Agriculture System

“…According to the proposed circular plan of agricultural waste utilization, plant residues, animal manures, and food wastes are recycled to produce engineered biochar are specifically designed for treating the wastewater generated from agricultural and domestic sources. At the same time, biochar can be applied to agricultural fields as a soil amendment to improve WUE [136], remediate diffuse-source contamination [137], and/or improve crop yields [48]; it can also be used as a clean fuel for energy supply (heading value >23 MJ/kg) [138,139]. It has been reported that the addition of biochar to soil could often enhance the plant available water (PAW) and WUE, although the soil type played an important role on the influence [140].…”

Experimental Studies on Combustion Characteristics of Oil-Palm Biomass in Fluidized-Bed: A Heat Energy Alternative

“…While the dry weight of oil palm empty fruit bunches contains organic matter consisting of N 0.8%, P 0.1-0.7%, K 2.4-2.8% and Mg 0.2-0.8. The chemical composition of oil palm biomass fuels has also been described in [42][43][44][45]. The characteristics of palm oil biomass fuel is a very important one and also affects the combustion performance.…”