Paper presented at the 18th Conference of Process Integration, Modelling and Optimisation for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction (PRES Conference) PRES’15 conference, 22-27 Aug 2015, Kuching, Malaysia.

1. Non-Isothermal Kinetic Analysis of Oil Palm Empty
Fruit Bunch Pellets by Thermogravimetric Analysis
- Bemgba Bevan Nyakuma -
18th Conference of Process Integration, Modelling and Optimisation for Energy
Saving and Pollution Reduction (PRES Conference)
PRES’15 conference, 22-27 Aug 2015, Kuching, Malaysia.

2. 2
Arshad Ahmad, Anwar Johari, Tuan A. T. Abdullah,
Olagoke Oladokun, Dodo Yakubu Aminu
Co-authors

3. • Introduction
• Experimental
• Results
• Conclusion
3
Contents

4. 4
Introduction

5. 5
• Malaysia >> 2nd largest producer & exporter of Palm Oil
with >> 400 palm oils mills and 4.5 million hectares of Oil
Palm (Elaeis guineensis).
• Palm oil production generates large quantities of Liquid
(POME) & Solid (Lignocellulosic) waste
• Solid Waste >> Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB), Palm Fronds
(OPF), Palm Kernel (OPK), Palm Fibre (OPMF).
Introduction

6. 6
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/yongkangbirdnest/oil-
palm-industry-in-malaysia
Introduction

7. 7
Fresh Oil Palm
Fruit Bunches
Pelletized Oil Palm Empty
Fruit Bunches (OPEFB)
Oil Palm Empty fruit
Bunches (OPEFB)
Introduction

8. 8
Solution

9. 9
• Current conversion technologies – open air burning,
incineration, land filling, boiler fuel & prod. steam
• inefficient, outdated, hazardous, unsustainable
• Valorization of OPW into clean energy fuels, power
generation  challenges of OPW accumulation.
• Biomass utilization  price volatility, dwindling reserves
& environmental pollution associated with fossil fuels
Solution

10. 10
Challenges

11. 11
• Biomass properties - high moisture, inhomogeneous sized,
high alkali content, and low energy density fuels
• Pre-treatment and Conditioning
• Drying, Densification, Pelletization, Mechanical
Fractionation, Hydrolysis & Torrefaction, Carbonization.
• To improve feedstock, thermochemical / physicochemical
properties, supply chain, logistics and storage
Challenges

12. 12
Way Forward

13. 13
• Fossil fuels  clean bioenergy fuels transition >> knowledge of
thermal degradation behaviour & decomposition kinetics.
• Mathematical models developed by Flynn-Wall (Flynn and Wall,
1966) and Ozawa (Ozawa, 1965)
• Analytical techniques >> thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) used
to investigate the thermal decomposition kinetics of biomass.
• Vital  feasibility, design and scaling up biomass thermal
conversion equipment & Optimizing yield & composition of
products of thermal conversion.
Way Forward

14. 14
Study Objective

15. 15
To examine the thermal degradation behaviour of oil palm
empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) pellets using TGA.
To determine the decomposition kinetics of the OPEFB pellets
using the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) kinetic model.
Way Forward

16. 16
Experimental

17. 17
• Biomass Procurement >>
• Oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) pellets  Oil Palm Mill in
Johor, Malaysia.
• Biomass Characterization >>
• Elemental composition & Proximate analysis
• Bomb Calorimetry Analysis
• Thermal Analysis >>
• Thermogravimetric (TG) analyser (NetzschTM 209 F3),
• Nitrogen flow rate of 50 mL/min.
• 10 mg heated from 30 to 1000 °C
• Three (3) heating rates, β = 5, 10, 20 °C/min.
• Kinetic Analysis >>
• Flynn Wall Ozawa (FWO) model applied TG data to obtain;
• Activation energy, Ea, & Frequency factor, A at different
conversions, α.
Experimental

18. 18
Experimental

19. 19
Results

20. 20
Results > Biomass Characterization

21. 21
Figure 1: TG curves of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) pellets.
Results > Thermal Analysis

22. 22
Results > Thermal Analysis

23. 23
A – Drying ( < 100 °C); B – Active Pyrolysis (200-500 °C); C – Passive Pyrolysis ( > 500 °C)
Figure 2: DTG curves of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) pellets
Results > Thermal Analysis
A B C

24. 24
Kinetic plots for OPEFB pellets using Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) model
Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) model >> In β against 1/T
Results > Kinetic Analysis

25. 25
Ea - Activation energy >> Slope – 1.052Ea/R where R = 8.314 J/mol K;
A - Frequency factor >> In[AR/Ea)].
Results > Kinetic Analysis

26. 26
• Average Ea OPEFB pellets (160.21 kJ/mol) << Cornstalk
(206.40 kJ/mol), Sawdust (232.60 kJ/mol), Oak (236.20
kJ/mol).
• Ea is the minimum energy requirement for reactants for
chemical reaction, high Ea values = Slower reactions.
• Lower Ea values for OPEFB pellets emphasizes its
suitability as a feedstock for thermal conversion processes.
Results > Kinetic Analysis

27. 27
Conclusion

28. 28
• Pyrolysis kinetics of OPEFB pellets pyrolysis was investigated using
TGA.
• The results indicate pyrolysis occurs 3 stages; drying, active
pyrolysis & passive pyrolysis.
• Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) model was applied to deduce the kinetic
parameters; Activation energy, Ea, & Frequency factor A.
• Average Ea & A values for OPEFB pellets >> 160.20 kJ/mol and
1.38 x 1024 min-1, respectively.
• Thermo-chemical and Pysico-chemical properties indicate OPEFB
pellets is a potentially suitable feedstock for biomass conversion.
Conclusion

29. 29
Acknowledgement

30. 30
The authors acknowledge the Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia
for the Long Research Grant Scheme (LRGS) VOT: 4L817.
The authors are grateful to S. L. Wong, and Muhamad Faizal B. A.
Halim of Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam for the TG
measurements.
Acknowledgement

31. 31
Terima kasih
(Thank you)