Production of Bio-oil from Fast Pyrolysis of Oil Palm Biomass using Fluidised Bed Reactor

Biomass is a renewable resource that can potentially be used to produce biofuels via the fast pyrolysis process. Oil palm biomass are a rich biomass resource in Malaysia, and it is therefore very important that they be utilized for more beneficial purposes, particularly in the context of the development of biofuels. The use of this pyrolysis technique can significantly contribute to reduce the biomass volume because more biomass can be consumed as raw material for bio-oil production. In this study, the thermal conversion of oil palm biomass via fast pyrolysis was carried out using a fluidised bed reactor. Several process parameters i.e types of oil palm biomass, pyrolysis temperature and particle size that can affect the yield of the pyrolysis products were investigated. EFB, trunk, frond and palm kernel shell (PKS) were used to investigate the effect of different oil palm biomass on pyrolysis products. The temperature used was in the range of 400-600 ºC and particle size of EFB was < 90 – 180 µm. The results indicated that the optimum yield of bio-oils (47.4 wt.%) was obtained using EFB having a particle size of 107-125 µm at pyrolyzed temperature of 500 ºC. The bio-oil and bio-char produced were characterized via physicochemical and spectrometric analyses. The calorific values of bio-oil ranged from 21 to 22 MJ kg-1 while that of bio-char 22-25 MJ kg-1. Keywords: Pyrolysis, oil palm biomass, bio-oil, bio-char, renewable energ

Performance evaluation of POME treatment plants

Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)'s nutrient composition and its ensuing removal from the wastewater is rarely reported in contrast with organics removal. Thus, the efficiency of several Industrial Effluent Treatment Systems (IETS) in nutrient removal are studied. Many laboratory- and full-scale studies have been constructed to examine the effectiveness of nutrient removal with a single technology. Therefore, this paper observed their efficiency after several unit processes were combined to perform, which generally occurred in the full-scale IETS. Total Nitrogen (T-N), Ammoniacal Nitrogen (A-N), and Total Phosphorus (T-P) were nutrient parameters investigated. IETS-3 with highest nutrient removal efficiency were 92.5% T-N, 94.5% A-N, and 93.5% T-P, which highlighted positive combination of ponding system, anaerobic digesters and extended aeration coupled with fixed packing in activated sludge aeration tank. Removal of biological nutrients need to move forwards with cradle-to-cradle waste management methodologies, which focus on sustainable recovery of essential nutrients via operative technologies

Hydrolysis of residual starch from sago pith residue and its fermentation to bioethanol

Utilisation of sago pith residue (SPR) for fermentable sugar production using both acid and enzymatic hydrolysis was studied. In acid hydrolysis, the effect of solid and acid concentrations, temperature and reaction time was optimised. The effect of enzyme dosage was studied on enzymatic hydrolysis of SPR. Higher yield and conversion of 0.73 g g-1 (96% conversion) was achieved by treating 6% (w v-1) of SPR with 1% (v v-1) H2SO4 at 125°C for 90 min as compared to 0.61 g g-1 (79% conversion) using 40 U g-1 biomass of Aspergillus niger amyloglucosidase incubated at 60°C and pH4 for 48 h. The fermentation of acid hydrolysate of SPR demonstrated that high ethanol yield of 98% can be achieved without supplementation of nitrogen and nutrients. The complete process showed that 470 L of bioethanol could be produced from 1 tonne of SPR. This figure makes SPR an ideal raw material for bio-conversion into bioethanol or other value-added products

Coal bottom ash for palm oil mill effluent (POME) decolourization

The utilization of coal bottom ash (CBA) from thermal power plant for palm oil mill effluent (POME) decolourization was studied. CBA is prepared using chemical activation with hydrochloric acid (HCl) to increase adsorption performance. Physico-chemical characterizations of CBA-HCl was analysed using BET for surface area, FTIR for its surface chemistry, SEM for morphology and EDX for elemental analysis. The effectiveness of CBA-HCl for colour adsorption of POME was investigated as a function of pH, initial concentration, adsorbent dosage and contact time by batch experiments. Adsorption increased with increasing contact time and the equilibrium states could be achieved in range of 18 to 24 hr. Results showed that CBA-HCl perform with maximum colour removal of 93% at pH 6 with 10% (w/v) adsorbent dosage in 24 hr. It was shown that the isotherm for adsorption of colour from POME on CBA-HCl was well fitted by Freundlich equation (correlation coefficient, R2 = 0.9636). Based on the results, CBA showed potential adsorbent candidate for POME decolourization

Preparation of palm oil methyl esters for alkenyl succinic anhydride production

The fractions of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) i.e. crude palm oil methyl esters (CPOME), RBD palm olein methyl esters (RBD Palm Olein ME) and used frying oil methyl esters (UFOME) rich in unsaturated fatty esters were used to prepare alkenyl succinic anhydrides (ASA). The fractions were obtained via fractional distillation that separated the unsaturated fatty esters from the saturated fatty esters. The fractions with the highest content of unsaturated fatty esters were reacted with maleic anhydride (MA) for 8 hours at 240oC with the MA/FAME ratio of 1.5. The reaction was conducted without catalyst and solvent. The crude alkenyl succinic anhydride (ASA) obtained was purified by column chromatography. The purified compound was characterised by FTIR

Scale deposits from palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment and various other industries: A developmental review

The palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment process is exposed to the formation of crystal-like deposits where their accumulation could create a significant threat to achieving an efficient POME treatment. This article reviewed similar occurrences in other industries, discussed factors influencing the crystal formation and suggested possible solutions to be applied in the oil palm industry. From the review, it was found that crystal deposits have always been a nuisance and sometimes a significant threat to similar industries such as industrial, agricultural and municipal wastewater treatment facilities. Other industries where there is a handling process of certain type of fluids such as heat transfer and oil reservoir drilling fluids also faces similar problems. The article also presented the spectrum of methods for mitigation and removal of the crystal formed. For many cases, nutrient recovery through struvite precipitation has become attractive as it not only reduces crystal growth but at the same time prevents excessive nutrients discharge to the environment. Further exploitation of the recovered struvite as a fertiliser source could possibly generate additional income to the oil palm industry

Recent progress in the production and application of biochar and its composite in environmental biodegradation

Over the past few decades, extensive research has been conducted to develop cost-effective and high-quality biochar for environmental biodegradation purposes. Pyrolysis has emerged as a promising method for recovering biochar from biomass and waste materials. This study provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art biochar production technology, including the advancements and biochar applications in organic pollutants remediation, particularly wastewater treatment. Substantial progress has been made in biochar production through advanced thermochemical technologies. Moreover, the review underscores the importance of understanding the kinetics of pollutant degradation using biochar to maximize its synergies for potential environmental biodegradation. Finally, the study identifies the technological gaps and outlines future research advancements in biochar production and its applications for environmental biodegradation

A review on potential of green solvents in hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of lignin

One of the greatest challenges in biorefinery is to reduce biomass’ recalcitrance and enable valorization of lignin into higher value compounds. Likewise, green solvents and hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) with feasible economic viability, functionality, and environmental sustainability have been widely introduced in extraction and conversion of lignin. This review starts with the underscore of disadvantages and limitations of conventional pretreatment approaches and role of green solvents in lignin extraction. Subsequently, the effect of process parameters along with the reaction mechanisms and kinetics on conversion of lignin through HTL were comprehensively reviewed. The limitations of green solvents in extraction and HTL of lignin from biomass were discussed based on the current advancements of the field and future research scopes were also proposed. More details info on HTL of biomass derived lignin which avoid the energy-intensive drying procedures are crucial for the accelerated development and deployment of the advanced lignin biorefinery

Fractionation and extraction of bio-oil for production of greener fuel and value-added chemicals : Recent advances and future prospects

Bio-oil is a highly valuable product derived from biomass pyrolysis which could be used in various downstream applications upon appropriate upgrading and refining. Extraction and fractionation are two promising methods to upgrade bio-oil by separating the complex mixture of bio-oil compounds into distinct fine chemicals and fractions enriched in certain classes of chemical compounds. In this review, various extraction techniques for bio-oil (organic solvent extraction, water extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, distillation, adsorption, chromatography, membrane, electrosorption and ionic liquid extraction), their associated features (extraction mechanisms involved, advantages and disadvantages), the characteristics of bio-oil extracts and their applications are presented and critically discussed. It was revealed that the most promising technique is via organic solvent extraction. Furthermore, the technological gaps and bottlenecks for each separation techniques are disclosed, as well as the overall challenges and future prospects of oil palm biomass-based bio-oil value chain. This review aims to provide key insights on bio-oil upgrading via extraction and fractionation, and a proposed way forward via technology integration in establishing a sustainable palm oil mill-based biorefinery