Pyrolysis of Oil Palm Residues in a Fixed Bed Tubular Reactor

Abstract

Searching for alternative energy sources continues to grow in recent times due to the fear of energy insecurity in the near future and environmental and sociopolitical issues associated with the use of fossil fuel. Among the renewable energy sources, biomass is the only source that has carbon in its building blocks which can be processed to liquid fuel. In this study, pyrolysis of oil palm residues (trunk, frond and empty fruit bunch) was carried out in a fixed bed tubular reactor under nitrogen atmosphere at 30 mL/min, 30˚C/min heating rate and 600˚C reaction temperature. Pyrolysis products (bio-oil, bio-char and non-condensable gas) were characterized. Water content, acidity (pH), higher heating value (HHV) and oxygen content of the bio-oil varied between 39.28 -43 wt%, 2.92 -3.20, 19.29 -21.92 MJ/kg and 58.47 -59.85 wt% respectively. Low pH, highwater and oxygen contents in the oil make it unsuitable for being used as fuel and therefore require upgrading. Scanning electron microscopy and ultimate analysis of the bio-char suggests that it is a porous material and consists mainly carbon between 82.22 -84.96 wt% and has HHV in the range of 25.98 -27.65 MJ/kg. This may be used as solid biofuel, adsorbent and source of carbon. High percentage of hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) were observed in the non-condensable gas which may be processed to transportation fuel via Fisher-Tropsch process. Oil palm residues represent good source of renewable energy when all the pyrolysis products are efficiently utilized.

Co-pyrolysis of Rice Husk with Underutilized Biomass Species: A Sustainable Route for Production of Precursors for Fuels and Valuable Chemicals

“…Bio-oil yield decreased with increasing ash content. High ash content biomass generally produce more solid materials since ash is non-combustible and therefore will remain in the solid product after the pyrolysis [38,39]. The bio-oil aqueous phase, which is normally made up of sugars, acids, ketones and aldehyde showed a direct connection with the ash content of the feedstock (Fig.…”

Investigation of yields and qualities of pyrolysis products obtained from oil palm biomass using an agitated bed pyrolysis reactor

“…In spite of the above-mentioned advantages, the pyrolysis of biomass is still challenging due to the quantity and quality of the pyrolysis products being affected by many factors, including pyrolysis type, type of reactor, operating parameters, as well as biomass type and properties (Domínguez et al, 2006;Maddi et al, 2011;Pattiya, 2011;Pattiya and Suttibak, 2012a Kabir et al, 2017). However, the application of OPT and OPF biomass for the production of biofuels using pyrolysis processes is still a challenge as there are only a few studies that have investigated the pyrolysis of OPT and OPF (Yakub et al, 2015;Sareekam et al, 2016;Bensidhom et al, 2018), necessitating further studies to obtain in-depth insights into the process. In light of that, this study was aimed to investigate the yields and qualities of pyrolysis products obtained from OPT, OPF, and OPS using an agitated pyrolysis reactor.…”

Catalytic Intermediate Pyrolysis of Napier Grass in a Fixed Bed Reactor with ZSM-5, HZSM-5 and Zinc-Exchanged Zeolite-A as the Catalyst

“…Fossil fuels remain the main global energy supply source despite the environmental impacts cum sociopolitical concerns which are well documented in the literature [1][2][3][4]. The fear of energy insecurity in the near future, in addition to the need for reduction of greenhouse gases, has led to the development of energy from alternative renewable sources such as biomass, wind, solar and mini-hydro [5][6][7][8].…”