Preparation of solid biofuel derived from palm kernel shell waste via pyrilysis and hydrogenation process

Abstract

The need for energy is always expanding along with industrialization and population increase, and the availability of energy supplies cannot keep up with the mounting consumption. In 2000, one estimate predicted that about 20 million metric tons of CO2 will be released into the atmosphere yearly. While this pattern continues, extreme natural catastrophes, such as excessive rainfall and the ensuing floods, droughts, and local imbalance, are to be expected. The world's oil reserves are expected to run out by 2050. Considering the mentioned aspects there has been an elevating demand for renewable resources of energies. One of such mentionable sources of energy is palm oil leftovers or palm kernel shells (PKS). Low moisture content, compact and having a high calorific content are some of the mentionable factors contributing to the popularity of PKS. Considering the mentioned aspects, in this study, the potential of palm kernel shell waste as a solid biofuel by using pyrolysis and hydrogenation process has been evaluated along with analysing the impact of temperature in achieving a higher calorific value. In order to evaluate the heating values of the samples, Bomb calorimeter has been used and TGA analysis has been performed to evaluate the impact of temperature and associated changes in the weight of the sample. For analysing the compound group present in the samples, FTIR analysis has been conducted. The highest heating value of 25.96 MJ/kg was obtained for sample prepared at 300oC hydrogenation temperature at 1 hour with the use Ru/Mn/ce-65 as catalyst. Significant C-H stretching and vibration was observed at 2850 – 3000 cm-1 and 1120-1250 cm-1 wavelength which indicate increasing C-H adsorption at carbon surface that become a major contribution to higher heating value. In addition to that, temperature has been observed to have major impact on the performance of the samples in attaining higher calorific value as compared to reaction time. Therefore, PKS proved to have a great potential as green waste to be used as a high-quality solid biofuel for combustion purposes.