Development of Palm Biomass Briquettes With Polyethylene Plastic Waste Addition

Abstract

High global energy demand scenario has driven towards transformation from sole dependence on fossil fuels to utilization of inexhaustible renewable energy sources such as hydro, biomass, solar and wind. Renewable energy sources are abundant in Malaysia, especially palm biomass residues that are produced during the oil extraction process of fresh fruit bunch. Therefore, it is inevitable to harness these bioenergy sources, in order to prevent waste accumulation at adjacent to palm mills. Briquetting of palm biomass such as empty fruit bunch (EFB) with polyethylene (PE) plastics waste addition is expected not only could maximize the utilization of energy resources, but also could become as a potential solution for residue and municipal plastics waste disposal. In the present study, the physical and combustion properties of palm biomass briquettes that contain novel mixture of pulverized EFB and PE plastics waste were investigated experimentally. The briquettes were produced with different mixing ratio of EFB and PE plastics (weight ratios of 95:5, 90:10 and 85:15), under various heating temperatures (130-190 ) and at constant compaction pressure of 7 MPa. Based on the results, it can be said that heating temperature plays a significant role in affecting physical properties such as relaxed density and compressive strength. The values of relaxed density and compressive strength are within the range of 1100 to 1300 kg/m3 and 0.8 to 1.2 MPa, respectively. Meanwhile, mixing ratio does affect relaxed density and gross calorific value. All values of gross calorific (17900 to 21000 kJ/kg) and moisture content (7% to 9%) are found to fulfill the requirement for commercialization as stated by DIN51731 (gross calorific value>17500 kJ/kg and moisture content<10%). Even though the values of ash content (3% to 4%) exceed the limitation as stated by the standard (<0.7%), it is still considered very competitive if compared to the commonly used local briquette that contains mesocarp fibre and shell (5.8%). Finally, it can be concluded that the best quality of briquette can be achieved when highest composition of PE plastics (weight percentage of 15%) is used and the briquetting process is performed at the highest temperature (190 ).

Characterization and Production of Fuel Briquettes Made from Biomass and Plastic Wastes

“…al. [6]. The effect of the temperature is slight different in both samples, whereas for S70−W30 there is not a significant difference in the density determined neither The results of the durability tests are presented in Figure 5A and 5B.…”

“…In spite of the briquetting process is a technology mainly employed to compact biomass [7,8,10,[28][29][30], briquettes made of refuse derived fuel (RDF) [31], textiles [32] or mixtures of plastic wastes [33,34] have been also produced. The combination of biomass and high heating values wastes present two important benefits: on the one hand, the maximization of the use of the energy sources and, on the other, the potential solution for plastic wastes disposal [6,[35][36][37]. Avelar et al [32] studied also the formation of briquettes mixing biosludge and cotton textile industry residues, finding that the best mixing proportion between the two residues was 25% of sludge, obtaining good and stable briquettes.…”

“…Briquetting biomass is a densification process which is able to produce a compact material with higher energy per unit volume [6,7]. Additionally, the densification improves the handling and reduces the transportation cost, producing a uniform, clean and stable fuel [8,9].…”

Characterization and Production of Fuel Briquettes Made from Biomass and Plastic Wastes

“…Comparing the briquettes of the mixture S70-W30 with that obtained at room-temperature from the sample S90-W10 at 67 MPa, it can be seen that despite working at less pressure and with more waste content, the briquettes produced at 120 • C and 130 • C present densities around 1.2-1.4 times higher. This phenomena can be explained bearing in mind that the sawdust contains around 25-35% of lignin [47] that can act as binder [7], the higher the adhesive capacity being achieved at higher temperatures, as postulated by Faizal et al [6]. The effect of the temperature is slightly different in both samples, and whereas for S70-W30 there is no significant difference in the density determined for either 22 MPa or 44 MPa compaction, in the case of the mixture S70-ASR30 the selection of the lowest temperature involves a density reduction of 7% both at 22 MPa and 44 MPa.…”

“…Briquetting biomass is a densification process which is able to produce a compact material with higher energy per unit volume [6,7]. Additionally, the densification improves the handling and reduces the transportation costs, producing a uniform, clean and stable fuel [8,9].…”