Effect of Thermal Treatment on Composition of Malaysian Biomass

• Main Author: Syed Faiq Bin Syed Adnan, Syed Faiq
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Teknologi Petronas 2010
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/1206/1/Syed_Faiq_Syed_Adnan.pdf; http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/1206/

This paper describes the effect of torrefaction on the basic characteristics of agricultural biomass waste in Malaysia, such as oil palm trunk as a potential source of solid fuel. Torrefaction is a mild pyrolysis process (usually up to 300 oC) that changes the chemical and physical properties of biomass. This process is a possible pre-treatment prior to further processes (transport, grinding, combustion, gasification, etc) to generate energy or biofuels. In this study two different sample size of Oil palm trunk (OPT) were subjected to different torrefaction temperatures at constant retention time to determine the alterations in their compositions for comparison. The overall mass loss is proposed as a relevant parameter to synthesize the effect of torrefaction conditions (temperature and duration). Accordingly, all results are presented by analytical expressions able to predict the energy properties as a function of the overall mass loss. These expressions are intended to be used in any optimization procedure, from production in the field to the final use in the future.