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M1RCENJournal, 1988, 4, 119-126

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Biogas digester for palm oil mill wastes and 1.8 Mw generating system in Gunung Meliau, with linkage to Pontianak system

Ign Gde Pemayun


Directorate General of Electric Power and New Energy, Department of Mines and Energy, Jakarta, Indonesia

Introduction

The Indonesian Government has outlined seven policies regarding the nation's energy. These are: -----domestic energy production energy production for export economy in the use of petroleum oil development of alternative energy conservation of the environment - - increasing national resilience. Rural energy programmes should therefore be directed towards these goals. Moreover, in choosing an appropriate technology for application in rural areas, the rural community's ability and willingness to use that technology must be considered very carefully. The regions of Indonesia which now have family-sized biogas pilot projects are Sumatra, Java-Bali, North Sulawesi and Ambon. Animal (cattle and pigs) dung is used as raw material for biogas production. The amount of gas produced covers the cooking and lighting of one to two families. (One family consists of five persons). All these digesters were built by a local university team, a research institute, or an individual expert. In the future, we will try to use palm oil mill wastes for biogas production to generate electricity in Kalimantan. As an example, a pilot project will be built in Gunung Meliau area - - West Kalimantan.
Development activities planned for rural and renewable energy resources in the fourth Five Year Development Plan (1984/1989)

Indonesia's fourth Five Year Development Plan covers two kinds of activity: evaluation and setting up of demonstration pilot projects. The schedule for this 9 Oxford University Press 1988

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Ign Gde Pemayun

Table 1 Activities planned for the development of new and renewable energy resources
Year Sources of energy Biomass Biogas Peat Solar energy Wind energy Ocean energy Traditional energy 1984/85 x xx x xx x x 1985/86 x xx x xx x x 1986/87 xx xx x xx xx x x 1987/88 xx xx xx xx xx x x 1988/89 xx xx xx xx xx xx x

x = exploration and/or evaluation. xx = demonstration (pilot projects). evaluation is shown in Table 1. Both exploration and evaluation should be carried out using existing institutions. These activities are necessary to determine whether or not it is feasible to utilize new and renewable sources of energy in a particular region. These activities are also time-consuming since several years are needed to identify and evaluate the annual effects. In view of Indonesia's existing capability, it was decided to carry out these activities in stages, as shown in Table 1. The next step will be research, d e v e l o p m e n t and practical demonstration of those rural and renewable energy resources which are not yet economically feasible, such as biomass (forestry and agricultural wastes), solar, wind and ocean energy. Although the activities of the D e v e l o p m e n t Plan have yet progressed only as far as the stage of demonstration pilot projects, it is hoped that these activities will lead to the production of utilizable energy. T h e demonstration stage is important as a test of feasibility before going ahead with large-scale commercialization.

Biomass potential in Indonesia


The role of biomass in the f o r m of fuel wood and agricultural/forestry wastes as a source of energy is very significant in the rural areas where it is used for domestic purposes. At present it has b e e n calculated that 40% of the total consumption of energy in Indonesia comes from fuel wood, charcoal and wastes. The average fuel wood consumption is estimated at 0.85 m3/capita per year for household requirements, 500 m3/unit per year for small industries in rural areas and m o r e than 500 m 3 unit per year for big industries and generators. Biomass potential consists of forest biomass and agricultural wastes. Agricultural wastes include maize cobs, rice straw, chaff, branches, leaves, coconut husks, coconut leaves, sheaths, sawdust and wood shavings. Plenty of such wastes is available in Indonesia and could be used for energy production. F r o m the 23 million tons of rice estimated to have been harvested in 1983, an estimated 4.7 million tons of chaff could have been collected. Likewise, a large amount of waste is produced by the timber industry, which utilizes only about 30% of the product of felling (excluding roots). A recent assessment of biomass potential is shown in Table 2. Biogas is produced especially from animal dung. In Indonesia, livestock numbers

Biogas digester for palm oil mill wastes


Table 2 Annual biomass potential (in million tones) Source (island/province) Java Sumatra East Kalimantan Central Kalimantan West Kalimantan South Kalimantan Sulawesi Irian Jaya Other Island Total Indonesia Forest biomass 12.6 44.4 53.2 22.6 13.5 4.7 16.6 38.6 10.8 217.0 Agricultural wastes 15.8 7.6 0.07 0.12 0.9 0.68 2.2 0.02 2.11 29.5

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Total

28.4 52.0 53.27 22.72 14.4 5.8 18.8 38.62 12.91 246.5

are great (buffaloes, cows and chickens). The available supply of dung from this livestock can be calculated by multiplying the number of animals by the amount of dung produced per animal and per day. The annual dung production from the Indonesian livestock amounts to over 114 million tons. The animals producing the largest amount of dung are cows, followed by buffaloes, free-range/kampong chickens, and then pigs. The Government of Indonesia has built more than 100 digesters as pilot projects between 1980 and 1984.

Palm oil potential


Kalimantan is a major focus of palm oil development in Indonesia. According to plantation expansion plans and forecasts, this region is expected to contribute about 23% of the total Indonesian palm-oil production by the year 1989 compared to a contribution of only a few percent in 1984 (Table 3). Although most of this oil will be exported, fetching valuable foreign currencies on international markets, the large quantities of waste produced will remain in Kalimantan and lead to severe levels of local pollution which can be avoided with potential economic gains through appropriate conversion into utilizable energy. Depending on local conditions, oil palms start producing three to five years after planting. The first crop usually amounts to about 50 kg of fruit per tree, but this usually increases to 90 and 110 kg/tree in the second and third crops and to 120 kg/tree in the fourth crop. Productivity increases to a maximum of 175 kg/tree after about 10 years of cropping. The fruit of the oil palm consists of bunches of numerous small berries some 3 to 5 cm long surrounded by fibres and comprising a soft outer mesocarp 5 to 10 mm thick containing most of the oil (45 to 50% by weight) and an inner kernel, also containing oil (50% by weight). This inner kernel is enclosed in a very hard capsule or shell endocarp, a few mm thick (Figure 1). In a typical large-scale industrial plant processing in the order of 400 tons/day of fresh fruit bunches, crude palm oil yields average 35 to 40% of the original fruit, while palm kernel oil, obtained after the crushing of the inner shell, contributes another 4 to 5%. The high overall oil yield, in the range of 40 to 45%, compared to most other

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Ign Gde Pemayun

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Biogas digester for palm oil mill wastes

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Kernel ~

Epidermis

Mesocarp ~

~ Endocarp

Fig. 1 Fruit of the palm oil.

crops, is a major factor underlying the growing economic importance of palm oil. The material balance of the products and residues obtained during the palm-oil processing are illustrated in Figure 2. The most important waste produced, on a weight basis, is spent fruit bunches followed by fibres and sludge waters (Table 4). Water content of the residues varies widely, however, and in energy terms the four principal wastes produced are roughly equivalent, each contributing 400 to 500 kcal/kg of fresh fruit input. In particular, the kernel shell which represents only 14% of the residues weight contributes over 25% of the energy content. Residues from the production process bring about a serious disposal problem. In many plants, shells, fibres and, to some extent, empty bunches are burned to produce steam and even power, but quantities left behind are still very large and need to be burned in the open. Rarely are they dug back into the fields as soil conditioners. The effluent sludge known as palm-oil mill effluent (POME) is also highly polluting but provides a very interesting input fuel for anaerobic digestion processes (Table 5). The

Freshfruit bunches IO0 I Empty bunches 22.4 Incinerator ash 0.4


I

I
Evaporated water 10.0 Press cake 30.2
I
I

,
Materialto digester 67.6 Crudeoil 37.4 Sludge water 15.7
I I

Purified oil 21.7

Fig. 2 Material balance of the palm oil production process (per cent by weight).

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Table 4 Selected characteristics of palm-oil residuesa Residue Composition by weight (%) Moisture content (%) Heat content (kcal/kg of fresh fruit bunches) 507 386 514 503 1910

Empty bunches Fibres Shell Sludge waters Total

34.9 26.7 13.9 24.5 100.0

64.3 41.5 2.1 65.4 49.8

a All data refer to flesh material. experience of the Gunung Meliau palm-oil factory indicates that State industries take full advantage of modern technology in saving oil through the use of their wastes when this is cost effective. Owing to the low interest rates available for the State industries, these have openly stilted that high front-end costs are not a problem and it seems almost certain that the new palm-oil mills to be implemented in Kalimantan in the future will be driven by steam turbine power from palm-oil wastes. As already indicated in the previous section, however, projects limited to on-plant heat power production exploit only a small fraction of the total waste potential, while full utilization, involving utility supply expansion, would have to be managed as Pontianak lined network (PLN) projects, despite the novelty of the technology for PLN. The very high initial investment costs would also require specific financing arrangements to make the projects attractive for PLN implementation. Another potential problem with this type of project is the management of fertilizer production and transfer which may complicate PLN's existence. This can be minimized, however, through suitable negotiations between PLN and the State industries. Biogas from palm-oil wastes: a project in Gunung Meliau This project centres on the existing oil mill at Gunung Meliau and makes use of residues (empty bunches, sludge waters, fibres and shells) which are presently burned, thrown into the river, used as landfill or otherwise disposed of. The portion of the Table 5 Composition of palm-oil mill effluent (per cent dry matter) Component Crude protein Crude fibre Ash Calcium Phosphorus Magnesium Ether extract Nitrogen-free extract Percentage 9.6 -16.0 11.1 -25.8 15.1 -25.3 0.57 - 3.8 0.002- 0.18 0.09 - 0.49 11.8 -25.9 7.0 -52.4

Biogas digester for palm oil mill wastes

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waste presently burned in a boiler produces process heat and steam to run generators for the oil mill. Assuming full capacity of about 400 tons/day of fresh fruit bunches, total remaining solid wastes amount to about 66.5 tons/day of which volatile solids may be estimated to contribute 80% or 53.2 tons/day. All this waste is assumed to be digested in a 4 4000 m 3 biogas plant and the gas is subsequently passed into a dualfuel or Otto cycle system to produce electricity. This electricity in turn is fed into the Pontianak system through a new transmission line following the existing road network and linking Pusat Damai, Sosok, Jelimpo, Ngabang and other intervening towns. Assuming that 25% of the total energy produced is required to meet the needs of the biogas plant, total available biogas may be estimated as 17 900 m 3 day (heat content 5500 kcal/m 3) and electricity generated can be estimated to be about 36.6 MWh/day with the dual-fuel system (including about 9% diesel contribution) and 32.1 MWh/day with the Otto cycle engine. In either cases the most suitable generating units are 2 x 900 kW units which is more than sufficient to meet all local requirements and fills into the Pontianak base load during off-peak hours. Owing to the long time required to reach optimum process characteristics, biogas systems cannot be turned down without damaging the overall economics so that a standby generating unit is included to allow full operation of the system during repairs and maintenance. Fertilizer production is estimated as 40 tons/day and valued at 90 Rp/kg (US$1 = 1100 Rp). These last data are included in the financial analysis as well as in the economic analysis because the fertilizer will certainly be utilized in the palm-oil plantations and its value is thus an inherent part of the project benefit streams. The Gunung Meliau biogas plant consists of five principal sections: siropulper treatment, feed conditioning, anaerobic digestion, liquid-solid separation and biogas utilization. Siropulper treatment crushes, cuts up and explodes cellulose and lignin components to produce digestible material. The feed-conditioning section consists of reinforced concrete or steel tanks, with a system of mechanical homogenizers for crushing and size reduction of the larger particles. This section has an area equipped for movement and loading of additives. The tanks are designed for a retention time of 24 hours. The slurry produced is pumped continuously to the anaerobic digestion section made of reinforced concrete or steel. The gas produced is measured with volumetric gas-meters which allow control of the anaerobic digestion process. The stream coming out of the digester enters the liquid-solid separation section where centrifuges separate the solid fraction and transfer it to a belt conveyer which takes it to a storage area. The water is discharged with pumps. In the biogas utilisation section, a small part of biogas is burned in a boiler to meet the thermal requirements of the plant. The rest of the biogas is used to drive the generator.

Conclusion

Indonesia's rural and renewable energy resources are a great potential but will play an important role only when they are utilized efficiently and economically. Progress in this field is still at the small-scale pilot-project stage. A biogas digester for palm-oil mill wastes and 1.8 MW generating system in Gunung Meliau with linkage to the Pontianak system could compete with a diesel alternative. With a pay-back period of 109 months, the unit cost of the project is 101.5 Rp/kWh with transmission connection to the Pontianak grid and 71.3 Rp/kWh without the

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t r a n s m i s s i o n c o n n e c t i o n . T h e unit cost of t h e d i e s e l a l t e r n a t i v e is 103.8 R p / k W h w i t h t r a n s m i s s i o n c o n n e c t i o n a n d 73.0 R p / k W h w i t h o u t t r a n s m i s s i o n c o n n e c t i o n .

Summary
In a common palm-oil industry 400 tons of fresh fruit bunches are processed each day. The wastes resulting from this processing (64% in weight of the fresh fruit) are burned to produce the steam needed in the processing while the sludge waters are discharged in rivers. A biogas plant of 4 x 4000 m j would produce 24 000 m 3 biogas per day. If the production of fertilizer (40 tons/day) is included in the rentability study, the pay-back time is 9 years and the unit cost $US 0.06 per kWh.

R6sum6
Un digesteur m~thanique pour les rdsidus de moulin ~ huile de palme et un g~n~rateur de 1.8 M W a Gunung Meliau, avec une liaison au system Pontianak
Dans une industrie de production d'huile de palme, 400 tonnes de noix de palme sont transform6es chaque jour. Les d6ehets r6sultant de cette transformation (64% en poids du fruit frais) sont brfil6s pour produire de la vapeur n6cessaire au cours du processus, tandis que les boues r6siduaires sont d6charg6es dans les cours d'eau. Une installation de biom6thanisation de 4 x 4000 m 3 traitant l'ensemble de ces d6chets pourrait produire 24 000 m 3 de biogaz par jour. Si on prend en compte dans l'6tude de rentabilit6 la production d'un effluent ~ valeur fertilisante ~ raison de 40 tonnes par jour, le temps de recouvrement de l'investissement serait de 9 arts et le prix unitaire du kWh de 0.06 dollars US.

Resumen
Digesti6n de los residuos de la obtenci6n de aceite de palma y sistema generador de 1.8MV en Gunung y su uni6n al sistema Pontianak
En una industria tipo de obtenci6n de aceite de palma se processan m~s de 400 toneladas diarias de frutos frescos. Los residuos de este proceso (64% del peso fresco de los frutos) se queman para producir el vapor que se necesita en el proceso mientras las aguas residuales se vierten en rios. Una planta de biogas de 4 4000m 3 producirfa 24000m 3 de biogas diarios. Si la producci6n de fertilizante se incluye en el estudio de rentabilidad, el tiempo de amortizaci6n es de 9 afios y el coste de la unidad de 0.06 $USA por Kwh.

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