Proceedings of the International Symposium on

Sustainable Systems and Technologies, v2 (2014)

Augmentation of Energy Sustainability Utilizing Technologies of
Waste and Biomass to Energy and Fuel Production from Byproducts
of Palm Oil Plants

Yong-Chil Seo Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea,
seoyc@yonsei.ac.kr
Jang-Soo Lee Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea,
enviwaste@naver.com
Heung-Min Yoo Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea,
wastedew@naver.com
Chang-Ho Oh R&D Division, Dae-Kyung ESCO, Incheon, Korea,
sytec@hanmail.net

Abstract.
The demand for renewable energy is increasing due to the shortage of energy supply and
anticipated global warming by greenhouse gas emissions from fossil energy plants. In this
regard, the significance of Waste and Biomass to Energy (WBtE) in terms of both technology
and policy has been significant as one of the most available potential alternative energy sources
to replace the existing fossil energy resources for increasing energy sustainability in recent
years. The WBtE technology is an attractive option that can handle both waste and biomass in
conjunction, while heat or electricity generation from the conventional technologies such as
waste incineration has been already well implemented in advanced countries. In order to
achieve higher efficiency and better performance in the energy generated from the wastes,
several new ideas and innovative technologies have been developed and introduced: pyrolysis,
gasification, and liquefaction with less green-house gas emissions. In this presentation, the
status and recent studies on WBtE technologies will be introduced as alternatives to augment
energy sustainability. As one of the technology developments related to the conversion of waste
and biomass to energy, the byproducts (EFBs: empty fruit bunches) from palm mill industries,
which are residues from palm oil extraction processes, are selected and investigated to produce
several types of fuel such as crude oil or bio-ethanol utilizing different advanced technologies.
Thermal fast pyrolysis technology with pretreatment of washing was adopted to obtain proper
bio-crude oil. Such innovative waste and biomass to energy technologies and research results
will be introduced as one of the promising techniques of WBtE.

Proceedings of the International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technologies (ISSN 2329-9169) is
published annually by the Sustainable Conoscente Network. Melissa Bilec and J un-Ki Choi, co-editors.
ISSSTNetwork@gmail.com.

Copyright 2014 by Yong-Chil Seo, Chang-Ho Oh, Heung-Min Yoo J ang-Su Lee, Licensed under CC-
BY 3.0.
Cite as: Augmentation of Energy Sustainability Utilizing Technologies of Waste and Biomass to Energy
and Fuel Production from Byproducts of Palm Oil Plants. Proc. ISSST, Yong-Chil Seo et al., Doi
information v2 (2014)
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Overview of Waste and Biomass to Energy.

Figure 1 displays the several conversion technologies that can generate energy from
biomass and waste. It includes mostly thermal processes with a few biological and mechanical
methods. The energy carriers and final energy usages vary depending upon the concepts and
processes used in each technology. In fact, a combustion or incineration of waste to produce
steam for heating or electricity is commercially available. However various concepts and
advanced technologies are also being tested and adopted to produce gas fuel, oil, solid fuel
(RDF), or even to upgrade them to commercial chemical reagents. We believe that WtE is an
innovative method and an efficient energy conversion technology towards a
more sustainable future.

Fig. 1 Energy Conversion Options for Waste and Biomass

Introduction to Bio Oil Production from Byproduct of Palm Mill Industries

As shown in the technology tree of waste and biomass to energy, many options could be
implemented to obtain renewable energy. One of the case study to utilize wastes from palm mill
plants, empty fruit bunch (EFB) was selected to produce bio oil by pyrolysis technology in the
chart of Fig. 1. Due to the development of palm industries in Malaysia and Indonesia, large
amounts of byproducts that can be used as biomass resources are produced in palm mills. In
addition, palm empty fruit bunch (EFB), which composes over 20 wt. % of the fresh fruit bunch
(FFB), is generated during the production of crude palm oil (CPO) [1]. Despite the large EFB
yield, most of the EFB material is disposed. Hence, if a robust technology for the conversion of
EFB into renewable energy is developed, EFB could be a sustainable renewable energy source.
Many studies on recovering energy from EFB have been performed, and one of the candidate
technologies is oil production by fast pyrolysis of EFB. In this study, a lab-scale fast pyrolysis
system with a bubbling fluidized bed was used to treat 500 g/hr of the empty fruit bunch (EFB)
from the palm industry. The characteristics of the EFB sample were investigated using
elemental analysis, proximate analysis and heating value determinations, among other methods.
Additionally, the effects of different pyrolysis temperatures, ash contents on the yield and quality
of the bio-crude oil were scrutinized. Hence, the present study focused specifically on how to
get the higher bio-crude oil yield.

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Experimental.

Materials. The sample of the EFB was imported from Waris Selesa Sdn. Bhd. in Malaysia. The
EFB was dried for 72 hours at 110
o
C to minimize the effect of moisture on biocrude oil
production via thermal decomposition. Then, the material was milled and sieved using an ASTM
sieve to obtain EFB particle under 500 in size. Its physicochemical characteristics were
examined using thermo-gravimetric analysis, proximate analysis, elemental analysis and higher-
heating value methods, among other methods. Furthermore, it was compared with other
agricultural byproducts. Ash is well-known to be a contaminant that decreases the yield of
biocrude oil. Thus, following the suggestions of Abdullah and Gerhauser [2], the EFB was
washed with water, but in the present study, both tap water and distilled water were tested for
different total washing times. After washing, the EFB was dried for 24 hours and then a
proximate analysis was performed to determine the change of in the ash content.

Experimental Methods. Fig. 2 shows the schematic diagram of the present fast pyrolysis system.
In the reactor, a total of 4 kg of sand was used. Nitrogen gas was used for fluidization of the bed
material, at a flow rate of 28 L/min. For reference, the residence time of the mixture gas was
controlled and maintained at approximately 2 seconds for each temperature, from 400 to 650
o
C
[3]. Sample EFB (500g/h) was supplied into the hot fluidized bed reactor by screw feeder and
then the thermal decomposition of the EFB occurs in the reactor. After the fast pyrolysis of the
sample material, the gas mixture and the light char were fed into the cyclone and the char was
separated in it. Then, the cleaned gas mixture was moved to the condensing-zone and the
volatiles were collected. The condensing-zone consists of condenser I and condenser II. In this
study, two quenching types were used, a direct-contact heat exchanger and a shell-and-tube
heat exchanger. The direct-contact heat exchanger (condenser I) used dry ice, which provided a
lower quenching temperature than that of the shell-and-tube heat system. Additionally, due to
the direct contact of the cold CO2 gas with the volatiles, it catches the mist and can perform the
same function as an electrostatic precipitator. Finally, the remaining gas goes into the
analyzing-zone, which contained two instruments, a dry-gas meter and a micro-GC system. For
the mass-balance calculation, the gas flow rate was measured using a dry-gas meter. The gas
composition was analyzed using a micro-GC system that could analyze C1 to C3 hydrocarbon
gases.

Figure 2: Schematic Diagramof the Experimental Apparatus. 1E A Pre-Heater, A 2E A Flow Meter, A 3E A Screw
Feeder, A4E A Reactor, A5E A Wind box & Distributor, A6E A Main heater, A7E A Char drain, A8E A Cyclone, A9E A Condenser I, A10E A
Condenser II, A11E A Drygas Meter, A12E A Silica gel & Filter, A13E A Micro-GC system

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Results and Discussion.

Physical & Chemical Characteristics of the EFB sample. Table 1 shows the results of the
proximate analysis, elemental analysis and heating value analysis for the unwashed EFB. The
proximate analysis of EFB, revealed that the fixed carbon fraction was the highest (18.32 wt. %)
and the fraction of volatiles comprised 66.78 wt. %. Comparing the other data showed that the
ash content was higher in the EFB than in the other biomass materials. The elemental analysis
showed that the EFB is composed mostly of carbon and oxygen, and the sulfur content was
below the detection limit.

Table 1. Characteristics of the Unwashed EFB and Other Biomass Materials

Elemental analysis
[wt.%]
Proximate analysis
[wt.%]
HHV
[kcal/kg]
C H N O S
Moistu
re
Volatile
Fixed
carbon
Ash
EFB
[Present
Study]
43.63 5.75 0.77 38.1 ND 7.57 66.78 18.32 7.35 3,881
EFB
[4]
51.78 7.04 0.72 40.31 0.16 7.38 76.41 11.57 4.64 4,036
J SC
[5]
50.52 6.15 2.32 39.41 ND 2.65 79.80 14.13 3.42 4,952
PKS
[5]
44.6 6.50 2.92 40.20 <0.1 5.92 71.31 17.81 4.96 4,406
Sawdust
[
6]

45.93 6.65 0.68 46.00 0.16 6.27 78.11 15.04 0.58 4,196

Fig. 3 shows the proximate compositions of the EFB given different ash-removal treatments and
the compositions of the unwashed EFB and the washed EFBs which were washed by tap water,
distilled water. To evaluate the effect of different ash-removal treatments, tap water, distilled
water were used for various washing periods. The ash content was decreased from 5.9 wt. % to
less than 1.53 wt. %, using all of the washing treatments. Notably, the volatile content increased,
while the moisture decreased in all of the cases. Considering the cost and time for the only ash-
removal treatment methods, it concluded that treatment with tap water instead of distilled water
is more suitable than that of those.

Figure 3: Comparative Proximate Compositions of EFB Given Different Ash-removal Treatments
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Fig. 4 shows the TG results for the various biomass materials. The heating rate was 10 C/min,
and a N2 atmosphere was maintained during the TG analyses. Weight loss of the washed EFB
occurred more rapidly than that of the unwashed EFB, particularly over 500 C, and intensive
weight loss occurred from 300 C to 400 C for both the washed EFB and the unwashed EFB.
Compared with the other biomass materials, the temperature range for intensive weight loss of
the EFB was lower than that of J SC and higher than that of sawdust.


Figure 4: Results of the TG Analysis

Product Yield. Fig. 5 shows the products yields from the fast pyrolysis of the EFB. The washed
EFB provided a higher yield of biocrude oil than did the unwashed EFB, with a minimum yield of
28 wt. % and a maximum yield of 48.4 wt. %. These results showed that removing ash by
washing the EFB was effective in increasing the biocrude oil yield. For the washed EFB, with
the increasing reaction temperature, the biocrude oil yield was first increased and then
decreased. Additionally, the non-condensable gas yield continuously increased, whereas the
char yield was decreased, as the reaction temperature increased. The patterns of the product
yields with temperature are consistent with those of other studies [4, 7]. However, the patterns
of product yields for the unwashed EFB did not follow the pattern described above.


<Unwashed EFB> <Washed EFB>
Figure 5: Yields of Products

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Conclusions.

The technological options to argument potential renewable energy, especially energy
conversion from waste and biomass were reviewed. One of the perspective technologies from
wastes generated from palm mill plants, which is, fast pyrolysis of empty fruit bunch of palm
trees was introduced. To improve the efficiency of bio oil yield, washing technique to ash-
removal was used before feeding to the pyrolysis reactor. All of the experimental ash-removal
treatments reduced the ash content from 5.9 wt. % to less than 2.39 wt. %. The pyrolysis
experiments were conducted in a bubbling fluidized bed at different reaction temperatures,
ranging from 400 to 650
o
C. As the temperature of pyrolysis of the washed EFB increased, the
bio-crude oil yield was first increased and then decreased. The bio-crude oil yield of the washed
EFB was the highest, with a value of 48.4 wt. % at 500
o
C. Moreover, the non-condensable gas
yield and the char yield were continuously increased or decreased, respectively, as the reaction
temperature increased.

Acknowledgements.

This work is financially supported by Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy as Development
of bio-energy production technology using palm-oil byproducts and Korean Ministry of
Environment(MOE) as Knowledge-based environmental service(Waste to energy & recycling)
Human resource development Project.


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