In the present study, oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) was subjected to microwaveinduced fast pyrolysis. It has been demonstrated that EFB pyrolysis with activated carbon (AC) as microwave susceptor significantly increases the bio-oil yield (38.26 wt%) at an optimized temperature of 500 •C as compared to the EFB pyrolysis without AC (1.89 wt%). The EFB bio-oil produced at 500 •C (EPO500) was characterized to be enriched with oxygenated compounds (92%) and high nitrogenous compounds (8%) with an overall low carbon to hydrogen ratio (0.1) that prohibits its direct usage as a transportation fuel. The EPO500 was also determined to have a higher selectivity of phenol compound at 42.95% with total phenolic derivatives up to 67.5%. The high phenolic content of EPO500 achieved at the highest possible yield indicates its potential to be used for the production of renewable phenolic resins. Hence, the present work of microwaveinduced pyrolysis of EFB presents itself as a promising method to produce highly selective monophenol rich bio-oil from biowaste.
Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine has attracted great attention due to its improved performance and emissions compared to conventional engines. It can reduce both Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Particulate Matter (PM) emissions simultaneously without sacrificing the engine performance. However, controlling its combustion phasing remains a major challenge due to the absence of direct control mechanism. The start of combustion is entirely initiated by the chemical reactions inside the combustion chamber, resulted from the compression of its homogeneous mixtures. Varying some critical engine parameters can play a significant role to control the combustion phasing of HCCI engine. This paper investigates the characteristics of HCCI combustion fuelled with n-heptane (C7H16) using single-zone model computational software. The model enabled the combustion object to vary from cycle to cycle. Detailed simulations were conducted to evaluate the effects of air fuel ratio (AFR), compression ratio (CR) and intake air temperature on the in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate. The simulation results showed that the single-zone model was able to predict the two-stage kinetic combustion of HCCI engine; the Low Temperature Heat Release (LTHR) and the High Temperature Heat Release (HTHR) regions. It was found that minor changes in AFR, CR and inlet air temperature led to major changes in the HCCI combustion phasing.
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).
The effect of microwave susceptor design on the heating profiles of co-pyrolysis between waste truck tyre and empty fruit bunch was studied. Carbonaceous susceptor was used to elevate the pyrolysis temperature along with increased heating rate. Different design of microwave susceptor and its effect towards the heating profiles of the studied co-pyrolysis process was examined. The aim is to determine the effect of heating rates on the pyrolytic-oil yield, calorific value and energy recovery. From the study, it was revealed that the microwave susceptor design (D1) with a horizontal-layer single-bed, located at the bottom (SB-HL-B) of the feedstocks, showed higher heating rate (83 °C min−1). Higher heating rates were observed to significantly increase pyrolytic-oil (39.0 wt%) and energy yield (59.0%). Such heating rate also upgraded the pyrolytic-oil properties, producing oil with higher calorific value (42.20 MJkg−1). Thus, the present study demonstrated a viable method to optimise pyrolytic-oil yield in producing diesel-like fuel through the adoption of a microwave-assisted heating method.
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.
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