Pyrolysis of empty fruit bunch in a fixed bed reactor and its kinetic study

Abstract

Empt fruit bunch (EFB) is a major waste from oil palm biomass after the extraction of oil. Pyrolyis will produce product such as bio-oil, bio-char and gas that can be generated through the thermal conversion of biomass. The pyrolysis process was carried based on its advantage which is can reduce the pollution as well as can be operated in the absence of oxygen. The product produced from the pyrolysis process can be used to achieve economic profits. The effect of temperature and particle size of biomass through the pyrolysis process was studied for the optimum condition for pyrolysis process. The kinetic study of the biomass also was studied by using KAS method. The optimum condition for pyrolysis to yield high bio-oil production is at temperature of 500 °C by using particle size of 500-710 μm. Pyrolysis kinetic by using KAS method showed the apparent activation energy of 281.204 kJ/mol and the frequency factor, ln A of 66.94 min-1. For commercialization part, 1 kg of EFB will produce 461 g of bio-oil. The selling price of 1 kg of bio-oil is RM0.66. So, from pyrolysis process, 461 g of bio-oil is yield from 1 kg of EFB. The selling price of biooil is RM 0.27.