scholarly journals Torrefaction of Palm Kernel Shell and Petcoke Blends for Various Mixing Ratios and Temperatures

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 477-484
Author(s):  
Mohd Faizal Hasan ◽  
Bemgba Bevan Nyakuma ◽  
Mohd Rosdzimin Abdul Rahman ◽  
Norazila Othman ◽  
Norhayati Ahmad ◽  
...  

In the present study, torrefaction of palm kernel shell (PKS) and petcoke blends was performed for the production of solid biofuels with high energy density. The torrefaction process was performed for mixtures with various mixing ratios (by weight) from 90:10 to 60:40 (PKS:petcoke). For torrefaction under various temperatures of 250℃ to 300℃, the mixing ratio of 60:40 was used. Meanwhile, residence time and nitrogen flow rate were fixed at 30 minutes and 1 l/min, respectively. In general, the fixed carbon and ash contents increased, while the moisture and volatile matter contents decreased after torrefaction. It has been elucidated that mass yield is a dominant factor that affects the energy yield of torrefied mixtures rather than the higher heating value (HHV) ratio. Based on the energy yield and ultimate analysis, it was found that a higher amount of petcoke and higher temperature give better performance, thus causing the torrefied mixture to become very close to coals region in Van Krevelen diagram. In this case, the mixture with a mixing ratio of 60:40 torrefied under the temperature of 300℃ gives the best performance. It was also found that this mixture is thermally stable than the mixture torrefied at 250℃.

2019 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asmadib Yusoff @ Adnan ◽  
Muhammad Roslan Rahim ◽  
Mohammad Nazri Mohd. Jaafar ◽  
Norazila Othman ◽  
Mohd Shuisma Mohd Ismail ◽  
...  

Insufficient and various environmental issues of fossil fuels as the current world dominated energy is now becoming a serious global issue. The rapidly increasing demand for alternative energy sources has contributed to the steady growth of renewable energy. Owing to the fact of the abundant presence of palm kernel shell (PKS) as one of palm biomass wastes in South East Asia region, this paper investigates syngas produced from gasified PKS. The investigation is regarding its composition and combustion performance in a gas burner system. It covers emissions analysis, temperature profile and flame length. The produced syngas from downdraft gasifier was burned in the combustion chamber in air-rich and fuel-rich combustion conditions.  From the experiment, the results showed that the oxidation zone temperature of above 750°C for the downdraft gasifier is suitable for producing syngas. Produced syngas can be classified as pure-carbon monoxide (CO) syngas due to 94.9% CO content with no hydrogen (H2) content and low heating value (LHV) of 10.7 MJ/kg. The wall temperature profiles for burnt syngas produced via downdraft gasification was higher with longer pattern at fuel-rich condition, which signified higher energy of syngas produced from downdraft gasifier compared to fluidised bed gasifier.  The associated flame length was also longer at fuel-rich condition. Produced emission of 56 ppm NOX, 37 ppm CO and 1 ppm SO2 can still be considered as acceptable to human.  It can be concluded that syngas produced from PKS shown a high potential to serve as an alternative source of energy due to its high energy content.


BioResources ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 8629-8640
Author(s):  
Wei Yang ◽  
Shengji Wu ◽  
Hui Wang ◽  
Pengyu Ma ◽  
Toshiniri Shimanouchi ◽  
...  

Torrefaction is a promising pretreatment process to convert biomass into high energy density solid fuel for further thermal conversion systems. In this study, the effects of wet and dry torrefaction on the properties of solid fuels prepared from bamboo and Japanese cedar were investigated in a batch reactor. The yields of solid fuels decreased with increasing treatment temperature in both torrefaction processes, mainly due to the decomposition of cellulose and hemicellulose. Cellulose showed higher reactivity than hemicellulose in both biomasses. The higher heating values (HHV) of solid fuels prepared at the treatment temperatures higher than 240 °C in both torrefaction processes reached the same level as those of commercial coals. Wet torrefaction was better than dry torrefaction for decomposing bamboo and Japanese cedar. Dry torrefaction had more favorable impact than wet torrefaction on improving the fuel properties of bamboo and Japanese cedar because of its lower energy input, higher solid fuel yield, higher energy yield, and similar HHV under the same conditions. The crystalline structure of solid fuel had no great change below 260 °C in both torrefaction processes and was completely destroyed at 300 °C during dry torrefaction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-17
Author(s):  
E. A Oluwasola ◽  
A Afolayan ◽  
I. O. Ameen ◽  
E. O. Adeoye

High cost of building construction in the country has remained a major source of concern to successive government in the nation. Building materials constitute approximately 60-70% of the building cost. In view of this, the need for alternate building materials is imminent. This research work focuses on assessment of effect of different curing methods on the compressive strength of palm kernel shell aggregate concrete. All materials were collected at Ede, Osun state. The stages involved in this research are material collection, batching and mixing, casting of concrete cubes, slump test, curing, and compressive strength test. The tests carried out were x-ray fluorescence, slump test and compressive strength. Four different curing methods were used; water, air, salt water, and detergent to cure concrete with two mixing ratios of 1:2:4 and 1:1½:3. It can be observed that the Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) contains mainly Iron (Fe), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Manganese (Mn) elements and other impurities. From the slump test results, it can be deduced that 1:1½:3 gave a better slump as expected. The compressive strength of cube ranges from 2.244 to 3.852N/mm2 Based on the results, the curing methods has a significant effect on the compressive strength of the PKS aggregate concrete.


2017 ◽  
Vol 79 (7-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamad Aiman Adnan ◽  
Muhammad Ariff Hanaffi Mohd Fuad ◽  
Mohd Faizal Hasan

Torrefaction is one of the promising ways to utilize abundant amount of empty fruit bunch (EFB) and palm kernel shell (PKS) while upgrading the combustion properties of both types of palm biomass. However, the supply of costly inert gas during torrefaction process such as nitrogen in large industrial sector may not be economical. Therefore, in the present study, air is used instead of nitrogen for the torrefaction process. The EFB and PKS were torrefied separately in a 60 mm diameter and 300 mm length of horizontal tubular reactor under various temperatures of 150°C to 190°C and 210°C to 250°C, respectively for 30 minutes using air. The torrefaction with nitrogen was also performed for comparison purpose. At the respective maximum temperature, energy yields of the torrefied EFB for the case of oxidative (air) torrefaction and nitrogen torrefaction are around 95% and 88%, respectively while energy yields of PKS for the case of oxidative(air) and nitrogen torrefaction are around 69% and 83%, respectively due to the weight loss after removal of volatile matter during torrefaction process. Besides that, the calorific values are enhanced after being torrefied with air (mere 4% for EFB and 18% for PKS when the respective maximum temperature was used).


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 8300-8309
Author(s):  
SIVABALAN KANIAPAN ◽  
H. Suhaimi ◽  
Y. Hamdan ◽  
Jagadeesh Pasupuleti

It has been a necessary option for most developing countries moving towards renewable energy options as part of the Paris Agreement, which minimizes conventional energy sources’ reliance. In Malaysia, biomass is a profitable renewable option compared to solar and hydro sources for energy production due to the abundance of agricultural biomass availability for immediate use. However, most of the biomass power plants in Malaysia depend on empty fruit bunch as fuel, causing problems when there is a shortage of fuel supply and other circumstances. Variations in the fuels’ properties provide a new challenge to the power plant output; however, mixing biomass fuels can overcome the issue. Hence, this article aims to study the empty fruit bunch (EFB) with other abundant biomass fuels like “palm kernel shell (PKS),” “rice husk (RH),” and “coconut shell (CS)” for biomass boiler fuel. Therefore, the biomass’s composition and characteristics need to be known, which was done through the proximate analysis (PA), ultimate analysis (UA), and high heating value (HHV). As a result of PA, UA, and HHV, RH is the least favourable fuel due to lowest ((moisture (4.92%), volatile matter (63.20%), carbon (42.50%), hydrogen (5.42%), nitrogen (0.43%) and sulphur (0.01%)) and highest ash content (18.19%), whereas CS exhibits the most favourable option with highest (carbon (50.25%) and oxygen (42.57%)) and second highest in HHV (20.53%) compared with PKS. Thus, the experiments have provided the least and highest favourable feedstock ratios option for biomass boiler fuel application.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-68
Author(s):  
Endang Suhendi ◽  
Pipiet P.U. Naibaho ◽  
Eka R. Fauzan ◽  
Teguh Kurniawan

Palm kernel shell (PKS) is one of the biomass with high potential that can be converted into chemicals. In this study, palm kernel shell (PKS) was converted by pyrolysis method to produce condensed liquid products, gas, and solid. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of catalyst activation time on yields and characteristics of PKS waste pyrolysis products. The pyrolysis process was carried out at a temperature of 500oC. Based on the results obtained with the addition of catalysts at 7 hr of activation can reduce the yield of solid products by 1.5% wt and 9.01% wt of liquid and increase the yield of gas products by 10.51% wt. On the characteristics of solid product there is a decrease in volatile matter by 55.04% wt and an increase fixed carbon by 40.27% wt. The gas characteristics, the H2 and CO gas decreases by 5.43% v/v and 1.36% v/v and the increase in CH4 and CO2 gas by 1.07% v/v and 5.72% v/v. Characteristics of the liquid obtained an increase in the amount of acetic acid by 11.75% v/v and decrease phenol compounds by 13.08% v/v. The result liquid product can be applied as a chemical.


PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrillo Parra Artemio ◽  
Ngangyo Heya Maginot ◽  
Colín-Urieta Serafín ◽  
Foroughbakhch Pournavab Rahim ◽  
Rutiaga Quiñones José Guadalupe ◽  
...  

Background The need for energy sources with low greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable production encourages the search for alternative biomass sources. However, the use of biomass fuels faces the problem of storage, transport and lower energy densities. Low-density values can negatively affect energy density, leading to an increase in transportation and storage costs. Use of pellets as alternative biomass source is a way to reduce the volume of biomass by densification, which improves their energy quality. They are produced by diverse biomass resources and mainly from wood materials. In all cases, it is important to evaluate the fuel characteristics, to determine their suitability on the heating system and handling properties. Methods The present study determines and compares data from proximate analysis, calorific values, physical and mechanical properties of wood pellets produced from the common tropical species Acacia wrightii, Ebenopsis ebano and Havardia pallens. Data were obtained from pellets produced from each species chips collected from an experimental plantation and analyzed through ANOVA and Kruskal–Wallis test at 0.05 significance level. Results The results of diameter, length and length/diameter ratio didn’t show statistical differences (p > 0.05) among species. Acacia wrightii showed the highest density (1.2 g/cm3). Values on weight retained and compression test showed statistical differences (p = 0.05) among species. Havardia pallens was more resistant to compression strength than A. wrightii and Ebenopsis ebano. Statistical differences (p < 0.01) were also observed for the volatile matter and calorific value. E. ebano has the lowest volatile matter (72%), highest calorific value (19.6 MJ/kg) as well as the fixed carbon (21%). Discussion The pellets of the species studied have a high energy density, which makes them suitable for both commercial and industrial heating applications.A pellet with low compression resistance tends to disintegrate easily, due to moisture adsorption. The percentages obtained for the resistance index were higher than 97.5%, showing that the pellets studied are high-quality biofuels. Proximate analysis values also indicate good combustion parameters. Pellets of Acacia wrightii and Ebenopsis ebano are the more favorable raw material sources for energy purposes because of their high density, calorific value, low ash content and they also met majority of the international quality parameters.


Batteries ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Oliver Fitz ◽  
Stefan Ingenhoven ◽  
Christian Bischoff ◽  
Harald Gentischer ◽  
Kai Peter Birke ◽  
...  

Considering the literature for aqueous rechargeable Zn//MnO2 batteries with acidic electrolytes using the doctor blade coating of the active material (AM), carbon black (CB), and binder polymer (BP) for the positive electrode fabrication, different binder types with (non-)aqueous solvents were introduced so far. Furthermore, in most of the cases, relatively high passive material (CB+BP) shares ~30 wt% were applied. The first part of this work focuses on different selected BPs: polyacrylonitrile (PAN), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), cellulose acetate (CA), and nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR). They were used together with (non-)aqueous solvents: DI-water, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). By performing mechanical, electrochemical and optical characterizations, a better overall performance of the BPs using aqueous solvents was found in aqueous 2 M ZnSO4 + 0.1 M MnSO4 electrolyte (i.e., BP LA133: 150 mAh·g−1 and 189 mWh·g−1 @ 160 mA·g−1). The second part focuses on the mixing ratio of the electrode components, aiming at the decrease of the commonly used passive material share of ~30 wt% for an industrial-oriented electrode fabrication, while still maintaining the electrochemical performance. Here, the absolute CB share and the CB/BP ratio are found to be important parameters for an application-oriented electrode fabrication (i.e., high energy/power applications).


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 24-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
NIKLAS BERGLIN ◽  
PER TOMANI ◽  
HASSAN SALMAN ◽  
SOLVIE HERSTAD SVÄRD ◽  
LARS-ERIK ÅMAND

Processes have been developed to produce a solid biofuel with high energy density and low ash content from kraft lignin precipitated from black liquor. Pilot-scale tests of the lignin biofuel were carried out with a 150 kW powder burner and a 12 MW circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler. Lignin powder could be fired in a powder burner with good combustion performance after some trimming of the air flows to reduce swirl. Lignin dried to 10% moisture content was easy to feed smoothly and had less bridging tendencies in the feeding system than did wood/bark powder. In the CFB boiler, lignin was easily handled and cofired together with bark. Although the filter cake was broken into smaller pieces and fines, the combustion was not disturbed. When cofiring lignin with bark, the sulfur emission increased compared with bark firing only, but most of the sulfur was captured by calcium in the bark ash. Conventional sulfur capture also occurred with addition of limestone to the bed. The sulfur content in the lignin had a significantly positive effect on reducing the alkali chloride content in the deposits, thus reducing the high temperature corrosion risk.


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