Ultimate and proximate analysis of Malaysia pineapple biomass from MD2 cultivar for biofuel application

MD2 pineapple is a highly demanded hybrid pineapple other than Josephine and Sarawak. The decomposition process of the pineapple biomass by burning may contribute towards carbon emission and increase the greenhouse effect. To address these negative impact, this biomass can be used as a raw material for the alternative solid biofuel to coal and substitute coal for the application in heavy industry or domestic use. The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristic of the MD2 pineapple biomass for their use as a feedstock for biofuel and energy production. The ultimate analysis was carried out by using CHNS Elemental Analyser, where the proximate analysis was identified by the thermo-gravimetric (TGA) analysis under dynamic condition. The results of the conducted study were compared with other biomass reported in the past literature. The ultimate analysis of the MD2 pineapple (i.e. 43.43 wt% C, 6.69 wt% H for leaf and 41.09 wt% C, 6.705 wt% H for stem) appears to correlate with the ultimate analysis range of the other biomass which is used as a raw material of the solid biofuel. The thermo-gravimetric analysis showed that each single part of the MD2 pineapple had pyrolysis and combustion characteristic based on its own main pseudo-components (hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin). The characteristics of the MD2 pineapple had ensured the potential of biomass as raw materials for alternative solid biofuel

Development of absorbent materials for open sea spillage oil

There are many incidents involving the ship at the sea area causing the oil pollution because of the oil spill. As we know, the oil pollution will give huge impact to the maritime especially to an aquatic live. Since, the issues of oil pollution increasing with time, and the waste of palm oil tree not even use for any usable activity; this research is carried out to investigate the ability of palm oil tree fibers as an absorbent material to recover the oil spill problem and replacing the current commercial absorbent. From the result of surface morphology by OM and SEM, it is observed that these pores on the fiber surface can make it easily to absorb the oil. The XRD analysis is mainly used in crystalline materials forstructural identification, but the result showed that the oil palm tree fibre is an amorphous.Besides that, the result from the experimental setup, where oil sorption capacity is design with certain parameter set up, a conclusion can be made that by increasing the volume of oil,fiber weight and the time consume, the sorption capacity will be increase until a certain limit.From the cyclic sorption or desorption characteristic test, it is prove that the fiber can be use for one time only. However, if it is use for many times, the result will not very efficient.Lastly, from the selectivity test, we can see that the fiber absorb the oil more than the sea water present. As a conclusion, it is possible to use the fibre as an oil spill absorbent material in our country because of its ability in absorbing the oil and easily to be find

Potential commercialisation of biocoke production in Malaysia-a best evidence review

Global depletion of fossil fuels, growing awareness on the effects of carbon emissions and greenhouse gases and, the need for renewable energy, has increased the attention towards biocoke research and active engagement with various research groups and industrial players. Biocoke production and utilisation is crucial as it contributes to the efficient management of agricultural residue and municipal solid waste. The technologies involved in the biocoke production and the viability of Malaysia's agricultural waste as a feedstock was described in this paper. In addition, the paper provided background information about the biocoke characteristics and the feedstocks that dictate quality. Comparisons of commercial coal coke and biocoke production technologies that may be applicable to Malaysia were also addressed. Moreover, the paper demonstrated the challenges towards Malaysia's biocoke commercialisation despite its viability from biomass feedstocks characteristics, availability, and evidence of calorific value estimations