Torrefaction of oil palm EFB in the presence of oxygen

Torrefaction of oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB), waste products from the palm oil industry, was carried out in a fixed-bed tubular reactor in the presence of oxygen at concentrations ranging from 0% to 15%. The effects of oxygen concentration (0%, 3%, 9% and 15%), temperature (493, 523 and 573K)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Fuel (Guildford) 2013-01, Vol.103, p.156-160
Main Authors: Uemura, Yoshimitsu, Omar, Wissam, Othman, Noor Aziah, Yusup, Suzana, Tsutsui, Toshio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Biomass
Drying
EFB
Energy
Energy. Thermal use of fuels
Exact sciences and technology
Fruits
Fuels
Natural energy
Oil palm
Oxygen
Palm
Palm oil
Pyrolysis
Reactors
Torrefaction
Wastes
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Summary:Torrefaction of oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB), waste products from the palm oil industry, was carried out in a fixed-bed tubular reactor in the presence of oxygen at concentrations ranging from 0% to 15%. The effects of oxygen concentration (0%, 3%, 9% and 15%), temperature (493, 523 and 573K) and biomass size (0.375, 1.5, 3 and 6mm) on the torrefaction mass and energy yields were investigated. The mass yield decreased with increasing temperature and oxygen concentration, but was unaffected by biomass size. The energy yield decreased with increasing oxygen concentrations, but was still between 85% and 95%. The energy yield showed concave profiles with increasing temperature. Mechanistically, it was found that the ‘oxidative torrefaction’ process occurred in two successive steps or via two parallel reactions, where; one reaction is ordinary torrefaction, and the other is oxidation. Analysis of the reaction kinetics based on the suggested mechanisms produced an activation energy of torrefaction, that was consistent with previous studies.
ISSN:0016-2361
1873-7153
DOI:10.1016/j.fuel.2011.11.018