Pyrolysis of oil palm empty fruit bunch biomass pellets using multimode microwave irradiation

Arshad Adam Salema; Farid Nasir Ani

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2012.08.002

Pyrolysis of oil palm empty fruit bunch biomass pellets using multimode microwave irradiation

Bioresour Technol. 2012 Dec:125:102-7. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2012.08.002. Epub 2012 Aug 19.

Authors

Arshad Adam Salema¹, Farid Nasir Ani

Affiliation

¹ Department of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM 81310 Skudai, Johor D.T., Malaysia.

PMID: 23026320
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2012.08.002

Abstract

Oil palm empty fruit bunch pellets were subjected to pyrolysis in a multimode microwave (MW) system (1 kW and 2.45 GHz frequency) with and without the MW absorber, activated carbon. The ratio of biomass to MW absorber not only affected the temperature profiles of the EFB but also pyrolysis products such as bio-oil, char, and gas. The highest bio-oil yield of about 21 wt.% was obtained with 25% MW absorber. The bio-oil consisted of phenolic compounds of about 60-70 area% as detected by GC-MS and confirmed by FT-IR analysis. Ball lightning (plasma arc) occurred due to residual palm oil in the EFB biomass without using an MW absorber. The bio-char can be utilized as potential alternative fuel because of its heating value (25 MJ/kg).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Arecaceae / radiation effects*
Biofuels / radiation effects*
Biomass
Conservation of Energy Resources / methods*
Energy Transfer
Fruit / radiation effects*
Incineration / methods*
Microwaves*
Plant Extracts / radiation effects*

Substances

Biofuels
Plant Extracts