A preliminary study on calcium oxide as potential catalyst for gasification of palm oil empty fruit bunch to produce syngas

Abstract

Gasification of dry palm oil empty fruit bunch (EFB), by using a temperature-programmed instrument was performed to determine the amount of synthesis gas produced. The potential of calcium oxide as catalyst for the gasification was studied. Dry and finely crushed EFB was pre-mixed with calcium oxide. Gasification was done at temperature from 50oC – 550oC and also from 50oC – 700oC using 5% oxygen in Helium. The products were monitored using an online mass spectrometer. Major products detected from this reaction were H2, CO, CO2 and CH4. The effect of calcium oxide amount (CaO : EFB ratio) was also investigated. A very significant increase of H2 and CO gases produced when nano-size calcium oxide was used as catalyst compared to bulk CaO. Reaction at 700oC using nano-size CaO reduces the formation of carbon dioxide during gasification. The characteristics of the catalyst used were analyzed by using XRD and XPS show some significant changes from CaO to CaCO3