Hydrogen gas production from gasification of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) in a fluidized bed reactor

Malaysia is one of the largest producers of palm oil and this industry plays an important role in Malaysia economic growth. As this industry grows larger, a significant amount of oil palm waste is generated, creating the problem of overloading biomass waste. Since the oil palm waste has many significant uses such as empty fruit bunches (EFB), the interest in production of hydrogen gas as the renewable energy from EFB also increases. The most common and favorable thermochemical processes to produce the hydrogen gas is gasification process in fluidized bed reactor. Regardless of tremendous experimental studies done on effectiveness of using EFB for production of hydrogen, the process implementation in industry is still discouraging. This is due to lack of proven technology and high capital cost of investment. In this study, a computational modeling was developed for EFB gasification in fluidized bed gasifier using the ASPEN PLUS simulator (v. 8.8) to optimize the gasification temperature, pressure and to study the different of chemical behavior. The results indicated that increase in temperature will increases the production of hydrogen and enhances carbon conversion efficiency. The optimum temperature and pressure was 850 °C and 1.035 bar respectively. The result shows that the char was removed significantly after several gas cleaning process. The final product for purified hydrogen gas is 14.5 kg/hr which is around 21% of hydrogen yield. Based on the result, it indicates that EFB has a potential to be used as a source of energy in a future

Process development and design of an integrated palm oil processing plant

The palm oil industry is one of the most profitable and significant contributors to Malaysia's economy. However, recently, the European Union is banning Malaysia's palm oil due to its environmental impact. Hence, it is urgent to improve Malaysia's palm oil industry system to reduce the impact on the environment by integrating the stand-alone palm oil process as integration of a process proven to enhance overall process performance (process efficiency, profitability and environmental sustainability). An Integrated Palm Oil Processing Plant is expected to increase the productivity and sustainability performance of palm oil production while reducing the overall cost of the process. To date, the integration of the processes specifically on the crude palm oil (CPO) products and derivatives has not been executed or academically researched. This study focused on the process design and development for integration of processes that involve the main product from the upstream of palm oil industry, CPO. Process selection for the integration was based on the material integration of CPO processing flow from milling (extraction of CPO) to refinery and dry fractionation (refining and separation of palm olein and stearin), hydrogenation of palm stearin, and fractionation of the hydrogenated palm stearin. Mass balance and process simulation was done to evaluate the mass throughput for stand-alone palm oil processes as the basis for scale up of the current (stand-alone plant) capacity to the proposed integrated plants to meet the hydrogenated palm stearin capacity process of 550 MT/day, 225 MT/day, and 100 MT/day. The feasibility of the integrated plant was analysed based on economic potential and sustainability performance. In terms of economic, the Integrated Palm Oil Processing Plant with the largest capacity (550 MT/day) was found to be feasible based on the profitability analysis where it has the highest return on investment (ROI) of 173% as compared to ROI of 85% and 49% for the other integrated plant capacity in comparison, 225 MT/day and 100 MT/day. In terms of sustainability, the integrated plant was compared with existing stand-alone plants using the modified palm oil milling sustainability index where the largest capacity (550 MT/day) of the integrated plant showed the highest overall score of 79 for the sustainability index, which indicated an improvement in the sustainability performance. For validation of the integrated plant, opinions from subject matter expert were obtained from the industry experts that include plant managers and engineers, project manager and academician. The experts' opinions on the integrated plant were varied in terms of the integrated plant management (control system, waste management and data management), operational (plant maintenance, utilities, operators, and technical staff) and sustainability (waste production, gas emissions and transportation). In summary, based on their feedback, the concept of an integrated plant was found to be promising in terms of systematic management, operational reliability, and support sustainable goals. In conclusion, the integrated plant with the largest capacity of 550 ton palm stearin hydrogenated fatty acids per day yielded a promising ROI, a great profit margin, and better sustainable performance and based on experts’ opinion, the integrated plant concept has the prospect for a more efficient and reliable plant, proving that integration of palm oil processes is feasible in terms of productivity, economic potential and sustainability of the industry

Accident contributor interconnection study as a basis for accident mechanism prediction

The accident rate in the chemical process industry (CPI) is not decreasing although the large majority of accident causes are known, foreseeable and could be prevented by existing knowledge. Continuous learning and improvement on experience feedback system is essential for process safety. In this paper, the experience feedback system is used to generate accident knowledge and understanding on accident mechanism. Accident data such as accident contributors are analysed and their interconnection matrix is develop. The matrix reveals three main functional groups of contributor to accident. Therefore, the likelihood of chronological event of accident could be predicte

An analysis of major accident in the US chemical safety board (CSB) database

Accident rate in the chemical process industry (CPI) is high and causing loss of lives, massive property and environmental damage. Continuous improvement on accident knowledge and understanding is vital for process safety. Thus, an initiative to study the latest trends of accident was taken by analyzing 75 completed investigation reports of US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) accident cases occurred in CPI from 1995 to 2011. The result of the analysis shows that the CPI accepted the concept of Prevention trough Design (PtD). However, 71% of accident cases are similar due to incorrect corrective action taken

Effect of temperature and air flow rate on xylene removal from wastewater using packed column air stripper

In this research, the effects of temperature and air flow rate on the removal efficiency of xylene from wastewater using packed column air stripper were investigated at a temperature range of 30 to 500C and air-water ratios of 20 to 100. The quantities of xylene in effluent from the air stripper were determined using UV-visible spectrophotometer. The effects of increase in temperature on the percentage removal of xylene were found to be more significant at low temperatures (30-400C) than at higher temperatures (45-500C). Also, the effects of increase in water-air ratio on percentage removal of xylene were less significant at higher G/L ratio (80-100) and more significant at low G/L ratios (20-60), thus revealing a non-linear trend in the effect of temperature and air-water ratio on xylene removal.The result also indicates that xylene removal efficiency is greatly affected by column temperature and G/L ratio with the highest removal efficiency of 99.93 at temperature of 500C and at G/L ratio of 10

Knowledge and readiness of COVID-19 and MCO from the perspective of safety and health competent persons and training providers in Malaysia

The effects and aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing Movement Control Order (MCO) will be felt for a long while, even after the MCO period ends. It is imperative to determine and measure the level of knowledge and readiness among Safety and Health Competent Persons (SHCPs) and Training Providers (TPs) in handling issues relating to COVID-19 during the MCO in Malaysia. A survey instrument was developed and validated by expert panels from academia and enforcement agency. A pilot study involving 40 respondents showed high reliability, with a Cronbach's alpha score of 0.95 and 0.96 for SHCP and TP. A fullblown research was carried out for two weeks from the 14th to 28th of April 2020. This cross-sectional study covers all states in Malaysia and has been distributed to approximately 3,000 respondents with a response rate of 10.6 % from respondents employed in various sectors. The construction sectors recorded the highest percentage of responses as compared to other sectors at 37 % followed by manufacturing sectors at 23 % and public services and statutory authorities at 18 %. The companies are a mix of small, medium-sized enterprises (47 %), and large establishments (53 %), which altogether have a wide range of turnover rates. This study highlights that SHCPs and TPs in Malaysia have moderate post-MCO awareness and readiness in terms of knowledge, skills, standard operating procedure, social distancing, and basic equipment to control and curb workplace contagion after the MCO is lifted. There are uncertainties regarding the TP's willingness to budget for and bear the daily costs of the decontamination procedure, personal protective equipment usage, space availability, and the COVID-19 screening process. The readiness of SHCPs and TPs have been measured and identified. SHCPs and TPs need more knowledge in post-MCO COVID-19 management, especially in terms of the capacity of the trained staff to adequately screen workers for COVID-19 symptoms after the MCO is lifted. SHCPs and TPs believe they are underprepared, but they are willing to learn more about pandemic preparedness if training options are provided. A plan of action to address these issues has been proposed to DOSH Malaysia for guidance on formulating the next step forward