Downdraft Gasification of Oil-palm Fronds

Renewable energy is becoming a focus of interest due to increased fossil fuel prices, their possible depletion in the near future, as well as increasing environmental concerns. Malaysia has a tremendous source of renewable energy in the form of oil-palm waste. Preliminary characterization studies on...

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Main Authors: Atnaw, Samson Mekbib, Sulaiman, S. A., Yusup, Suzana
Format: Article
Published: 2011
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Online Access:http://eprints.utp.edu.my/5637/1/Samson_1006-1018.pdf
http://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=tasr.2011.1006.1018
http://eprints.utp.edu.my/5637/
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spelling my.utp.eprints.56372017-01-19T08:23:07Z Downdraft Gasification of Oil-palm Fronds Atnaw, Samson Mekbib Sulaiman, S. A. Yusup, Suzana TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery Renewable energy is becoming a focus of interest due to increased fossil fuel prices, their possible depletion in the near future, as well as increasing environmental concerns. Malaysia has a tremendous source of renewable energy in the form of oil-palm waste. Preliminary characterization studies on oil-palm fronds biomass showed that, it has a higher potential as a gasification feedstock. However, no previous study has been recorded on gasification of oil-palm wastes. In order to investigate the performance and gasification characteristics of this feedstock, a downdraft gasifier of capacity 50 kW, designed and manufactured for the purpose of this study, is used. In addition, study of pyrolysis characteristics is carried out using fixed bed activation reactor. As the reactor temperature is the key factor in the performance of a gasifier unit, the experimental study in the current research focused on investigating the temperature profile along the gasifier bed, as well as the dynamic temperature profile with reaction time. The experimental results showed that, temperature profiles in close agreement with literature are obtained for the various zones of gasification of oil-palm fronds. Peak oxidation zone temperature of 940°C and pyrolysis zone temperature in the range of 400°C is obtained which are favorable conditions for gasification. Furthermore, the pyrolysis study showed that oil-palm fronds give better yield of pyrolysis products compared to rice husk. And the optimum pyrolysis temperature, for cubical shaped oil-palm fronds feedstock of size 25 mm, is determined to be 500°C. 2011 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf http://eprints.utp.edu.my/5637/1/Samson_1006-1018.pdf http://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=tasr.2011.1006.1018 Atnaw, Samson Mekbib and Sulaiman, S. A. and Yusup, Suzana (2011) Downdraft Gasification of Oil-palm Fronds. Trends in Applied Sciences Research, 6 (9). pp. 1006-1018. ISSN 2151-7908 http://eprints.utp.edu.my/5637/
institution Universiti Teknologi Petronas
building UTP Resource Centre
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Teknologi Petronas
content_source UTP Institutional Repository
url_provider http://eprints.utp.edu.my/
topic TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
spellingShingle TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
Atnaw, Samson Mekbib
Sulaiman, S. A.
Yusup, Suzana
Downdraft Gasification of Oil-palm Fronds
description Renewable energy is becoming a focus of interest due to increased fossil fuel prices, their possible depletion in the near future, as well as increasing environmental concerns. Malaysia has a tremendous source of renewable energy in the form of oil-palm waste. Preliminary characterization studies on oil-palm fronds biomass showed that, it has a higher potential as a gasification feedstock. However, no previous study has been recorded on gasification of oil-palm wastes. In order to investigate the performance and gasification characteristics of this feedstock, a downdraft gasifier of capacity 50 kW, designed and manufactured for the purpose of this study, is used. In addition, study of pyrolysis characteristics is carried out using fixed bed activation reactor. As the reactor temperature is the key factor in the performance of a gasifier unit, the experimental study in the current research focused on investigating the temperature profile along the gasifier bed, as well as the dynamic temperature profile with reaction time. The experimental results showed that, temperature profiles in close agreement with literature are obtained for the various zones of gasification of oil-palm fronds. Peak oxidation zone temperature of 940°C and pyrolysis zone temperature in the range of 400°C is obtained which are favorable conditions for gasification. Furthermore, the pyrolysis study showed that oil-palm fronds give better yield of pyrolysis products compared to rice husk. And the optimum pyrolysis temperature, for cubical shaped oil-palm fronds feedstock of size 25 mm, is determined to be 500°C.
format Article
author Atnaw, Samson Mekbib
Sulaiman, S. A.
Yusup, Suzana
author_facet Atnaw, Samson Mekbib
Sulaiman, S. A.
Yusup, Suzana
author_sort Atnaw, Samson Mekbib
title Downdraft Gasification of Oil-palm Fronds
title_short Downdraft Gasification of Oil-palm Fronds
title_full Downdraft Gasification of Oil-palm Fronds
title_fullStr Downdraft Gasification of Oil-palm Fronds
title_full_unstemmed Downdraft Gasification of Oil-palm Fronds
title_sort downdraft gasification of oil-palm fronds
publishDate 2011
url http://eprints.utp.edu.my/5637/1/Samson_1006-1018.pdf
http://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=tasr.2011.1006.1018
http://eprints.utp.edu.my/5637/
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score 13.160551