BIOCHAR FROM OIL PALM EMPTY FRUIT

BUNCHES AND OIL PALM SHELLS VIA SLOW

PYROLYSIS

NUR SYAIRAH BINTI MOHAMAD AZIZ

UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA

2014
 BIOCHAR FROM OIL PALM EMPTY FRUIT
BUNCHES AND OIL PALM SHELLS VIA SLOW
PYROLYSIS

by

NUR SYAIRAH BINTI MOHAMAD AZIZ

Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of
Master of Science

AUGUST 2014
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

“All praises and thanks to Allah”

I wish to express my sincere gratitude and thanks to my supervisor Dr. Adilah

Shariff and my co-supervisor, Dr. Nurhayati Abdullah for their wonderful supervision,

guidance, assistance and encouragement during my study.

I would like to express my special appreciation to Ministry of Education for the

MyBrain scholarship and to Universiti Sains Malaysia for the Postgraduate Incentive and

Short Term Grant as the financial support for my research project.

Great thanks also go to members of Energy Studies Research Group (Zalila,

Aizuddin, En. Rahmad and Ismiza), staff and technicians at School of Physics and all the

postgraduate friends for their support and assistance. Special thanks to Malpom Oil Palm

Industry Sdn. Bhd. and UOP Industry Sdn. Bhd. for their willingness to supply the raw

samples for this study.

Last but not least, I would like to express my utmost appreciation to my beloved

parents, Mr. Mohamad Aziz Harun and Mdm. Rozi Abu Bakar, my siblings; „Atiqah,

Hafizuddin, Syafiqah, Athirah, Arifuddin, Aizuddin, Asyraff, and my friends, Nurhidayah

Mohamed Noor and Tengku Sarah Tengku Amran for their tremendous support, blessing and

understanding. Special thanks to Collin Black for the motivational quotes and wonderful

memories.

ii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iii
LIST OF TABLES vii
LIST OF FIGURES ix
LIST OF PLATES xi
LIST OF SYMBOL xiii
LIST OF ABBREVIATION xiv
ABSTRAK xvi
ABSTRACT xviii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Research Overview 1
1.2 Renewable Energy Scenario 2
1.3 Biomass and Biochar 3
1.4 Oil Palm Biomass 5
1.5 Problem Statement 6
1.6 Objectives and Scope of Research 7
1.7 Thesis Structure 8

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction 10
2.2 Biomass 10
2.2.1 Structure and Compositions 11
2.2.2 Potential and Utilization of Biomass 15
2.3 Biomass Conversion Technology 19
2.3.1 Pyrolysis 20
2.3.1 (a) Fast pyrolysis 23
2.3.1 (b) Slow pyrolysis 23
2.4 Biochar 26
2.4.1 Background and Definition 26
2.4.2 Characterization and Properties 28
2.4.3 Benefits and Advantages of Biochar 29
2.4.4 Biochar Production 31
2.4.5 Pyrolysis of Biomass for Biochar Production 33

iii
 2.5 Oil Palm 36
2.5.1 Oil Palm Industry in Malaysia 37
2.5.2 Oil Palm Wastes 39
2.5.3 Pyrolysis of Oil Palm Wastes 43

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction 48
3.2 Feedstock Preparation 49
3.2.1 Feedstock Collection 49
3.2.2 Drying Process 50
3.2.3 Size Reduction 50
3.2.4 Water Washing Pre-Treatment 51
3.3 Feedstock Characterization 53
3.3.1 Proximate Analysis 53
3.3.2 Elemental Analysis 55
3.3.3 Heating Value 56
3.3.4 Lignocellulosic Analysis 57
3.3.5 SEM and EDX Analysis 61
3.3.6 Thermogravimetric Analysis 63
3.4 Laboratory-Scale Slow Pyrolysis 63
3.4.1 Experimental Setup 64
3.4.1 (a) Muffle Furnace 64
3.4.1 (b) Sample Holder (Pyrolyzer) 65
3.4.1 (c) Condenser System 66
3.4.2 Slow Pyrolysis Experiment 66
3.4.2 (a) Slow Pyrolysis of Empty Fruit Bunches 67
3.4.2 (b) Slow Pyrolysis of Oil Palm Shell 68
3.5 Characterization of Biochar 69
3.5.1 Proximate Analysis 69
3.5.2 Elemental Analysis 70
3.5.3 SEM and EDX Analysis 70
3.5.4 BET Surface Area 71

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction 72
4.2 EFB Feedstock Preparation Using Water Washing Pre-Treatment 72
4.3 Feedstock Characteristics 73

iv
 4.3.1 Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches 74
4.3.1 (a) Properties of EFB Feedstock 74
4.3.1 (b) SEM and EDX Analysis of EFB Feedstock 75
4.3.1 (c) Thermogravimetric Analysis of Unwashed and 78
Washed EFB
4.3.2 Oil Palm Shell 83
4.3.2 (a) Properties of OPS Feedstock 83
4.3.2 (b) SEM and EDX Analysis of OPS Feedstock 84
4.3.2 (c) Thermogravimetric Analysis of OPS 87
4.4 Laboratory-Scale Slow Pyrolysis Experiment of Oil Palm Empty 89
Fruit Bunches
4.4.1 Impacts of Holding Time on Product Yields and Biochar 89
Characteristics
4.4.1 (a) Experimental Observation and Product Yield 89
4.4.1 (b) Characterization of Biochar 91
4.4.2 Impacts of Various Ash Content on Product Yields and Biochar 98
Characteristics
4.4.2 (a) Experimental Observation and Product Yield 98
4.4.2 (b) Characterization of Biochar 100
4.5 Laboratory-Scale Slow Pyrolysis Experiment of Oil Palm Shell 104
4.5.1 Impacts of Terminal Temperature on Product Yields and Biochar 105
Characteristics
4.5.1 (a) Experimental Observation and Product Yield 105
4.5.1 (b) Characterization of Biochar 107
4.5.2 Impacts of Holding Time on Product Yields and Biochar 113
Characteristics
4.5.2 (a) Experimental Observation and Product Yield 113
4.5.2 (b) Characterization of Biochar 115
4.6 Yield and Characteristics of Biochar Produced From EFB and OPS Feedstock 121
4.7 Experimental Error Analysis 124

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Laboratory-Scale Slow Pyrolysis of Oil Palm EFB 125
5.2 Laboratory-Scale Slow Pyrolysis of OPS 126
5.3 Comparison for Slow Pyrolysis of EFB and OPS 127
5.4 Recommendation for Future Works 128
REFERENCES 129

v
APPENDICES

APPENDIX A An Example of Data Sheet and Calculation for Slow

Pyrolysis Experiment

APPENDIX B Error Analysis

APPENDIX C An Example for the TG Analysis Result Sheet

APPENDIX D An Example of EDX Analysis for EFB Biochar

APPENDIX E An Example of EDX Analysis for OPS Biochar

APPENDIX F An Example of Result Sheet for BET Surface Area Analysis

APPENDIX G An Example of Result Sheet for BET Surface Area Analysis

(BET Plot)

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

vi
 LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 1.1 Estimates of dry matter production of oil palm biomass 6

Table 2.1 Composition of ash content in various type of biomass 12

Table 2.2 Biochemical composition of various types of biomass fuels 15

Table 2.3 Potential biomass as renewable energy resources 16

Table 2.4 General comparison between biochar, char, charcoal and activated 27
carbon

Table 2.5 Percentage of biochar yield for different type of pyrolysis 33

Table 2.6 Oil palm plantation area by ownership in 2012 38

Table 2.7 The amount of biomass available from palm oil industry in 2012 40

Table 2.8 Properties of oil palm wastes feedstock 46

Table 2.9 Yield percentage for pyrolysis products of oil palm wastes at 46
various temperatures

Table 3.1 Summary of water washing pre-treatment procedure of EFB 52

feedstock

Table 4.1 Ash content of EFB feedstock 72

Table 4.2 Properties of raw EFB feedstock 68

Table 4.3 Elemental composition of the EFB feedstock at different EDX 77

scanned areas

Table 4.4 Properties of OPS feedstock 83

Table 4.5 Elemental composition of the OPS feedstock at different EDX 87

scanned areas

Table 4.6 Proximate and elemental analysis of EFB biochar produced at 92

different holding times

Table 4.7 Elemental composition of the different holding times EFB 96

biochar at different EDX scanned areas

Table 4.8 BET surface area, average pore diameter and total pore volume 97
of biochar produced at different holding times

Table 4.9 EFB biochar code names produced from different ash content of 100
EFB feedstock

vii
Table 4.10 Proximate and elemental analysis of EFB biochar produced from 101
various ash content of EFB feedstock

Table 4.11 Elemental composition of EFB biochar produced from washed 103
EFB feedstock at different EDX scanned areas

Table 4.12 BET surface area, average pore diameter and total pore volume of 104
biochar from various ash content of EFB feedstock

Table 4.13 Proximate and elemental analysis of OPS biochar produced at 108
different terminal temperature

Table 4.14 Elemental composition of the OPS biochar produced at different 112
terminal temperature at different EDX scanned areas

Table 4.15 BET surface area, average pore diameter and total pore volume of 113
OPS biochar produced at different terminal temperature

Table 4.16 Proximate and elemental analysis of OPS biochar produced at 116
different holding times

Table 4.17 Elemental composition of the OPS biochar produced at different 120
holding time different EDX scanned areas

Table 4.18 BET surface area, average pore diameter and total pore volume 121
of OPS biochar produced at various holding times

viii
 LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1.1 Renewable energy share of global final energy consumption 2

in 2010

Figure 2.1 Major constituents of a woody biomass 11

Figure 2.2 Molecular structure of cellulose 13

Figure 2.3 Main components of hemicelluloses 14

Figure 2.4 Comparison of normal carbon cycle and biochar carbon cycle 18

Figure 2.5 Flow of pyrolysis process 22

Figure 2.6 Various type of traditional charcoal kilns 32

Figure 2.7 Oil palm plantation area in Malaysia 38

Figure 2.8 Palm oil production flow process 40

Figure 3.1 Research plan flow chart 49

Figure 3.2 Water washing pre-treatment process 51

Figure 3.3 Laboratory-scale system for slow pyrolysis experiment 64

Figure 4.1 Scanned areas of the EFB feedstock with the corresponding peak 77
spectrum

Figure 4.2 TG and DTG curves of EFB feedstock 79

Figure 4.3 TG curves of the EFB feedstock with various ash contents 80

Figure 4.4 DTG curves of the EFB feedstock with various ash contents 81

Figure 4.5 Scanned areas of the OPS feedstock with the corresponding peak 86
spectrum

Figure 4.6 TG and DTG curves of OPS feedstock 88

Figure 4.7 Product yields from slow pyrolysis of EFB at 550 °C and 90
5 °C /min for different holding time

Figure 4.8 Product yield from slow pyrolysis of different ash content of 99
EFB feedstock at 550 °C and 5 °C /min for 1 h

Figure 4.9 Product yields from slow pyrolysis of OPS at different 106
terminal temperatures for 1 h holding time and 5 °C/min
heating rate

Figure 4.10 Product yields from slow pyrolysis of OPS at 550 °C 114
and 5 °C /min for different holding times

ix
Figure 4.11 Biochar yield of EFB and OPS at 550 °C and 5 °C/min 122
for various holding times

Figure 4.12 Fixed carbon content of EFB and OPS biochar produced at 550 °C 123
and 5 °C/min for various holding times

Figure 4.13 BET surface area of EFB and OPS biochars produced at 550 °C and 124
5 °C/min for different holding times

x
 LIST OF PLATES

Page

Plate 2.1 Cross section of oil palm fruitlet 37

Plate 2.2 (a) EFB coming out from the striper (b) A wet empty fruit bunch 41

Plate 2.3 Dumped EFB in the mills 41

Plate 2.4 Oil Palm Shell 42

Plate 2.5 Pruned OPF in the plantation 43

Plate 3.1 OPS (left) and EFB (right) after the sample collection 50

Plate 3.2 Size of EFB after size reduction process 50

Plate 3.3 EFB feedstock soaked in the distilled water 52

Plate 3.4 Grinded feedstock in the crucibles for proximate analysis 54

Plate 3.5 Nenken-type adiabatic bomb calorimeter 57

Plate 3.6 Extraction apparatus setup 58

Plate 3.7 Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA 7 Perkin Elmer) 63

Plate 3.8 Muffle furnace Thermolyne F62700 65

Plate 3.9 Pyrolyzer 65

Plate 3.10 Condenser system 66

Plate 3.11 EFB feedstock in the pyrolyzer 68

Plate 3.12 OPS feedstock in the pyrolyzer 69

Plate 4.1 SEM images of raw EFB feedstock in different magnifications 76

Plate 4.2 DTG curves of washed and unwashed EFB from Khalib (2012) 82

Plate 4.3 SEM images of raw OPS feedstock in different magnifications 85

Plate 4.4 EFB biochar 91

Plate 4.5 SEM images of EFB biochar produced at 1.0 h, 2.0 h and 4.0 h in 94
2500x magnification

Plate 4.6 SEM images of EFB biochar produced at 1.0 h, 2.0 h and 4.0 h in 95
5000x magnification

Plate 4.7 SEM images of EFB biochar produced from various ash content of 102
EFB in 2500x magnification

xi
Plate 4.8 OPS biochar 107

Plate 4.9 SEM images of OPS biochar produced from various terminal 110
temperatures in 500x magnification

Plate 4.10 SEM images of OPS biochar produced from various terminal 111
temperatures in 2500x magnification

Plate 4.11 SEM images of OPS biochar produced at 1.0 h, 2.0 h and 4.0 h in 117
500x magnification

Plate 4.12 SEM images of OPS biochar produced at 1.0 h, 2.0 h and 4.0 h in 118
2000x magnification

Plate 4.13 SEM images of OPS biochar produced from various temperatures 119
in 5000x magnification

xii
 LIST OF SYMBOLS

Å angstrom

°C degree celcius

°C/min degree celcius per minute

cc/g centimeter cubic per gram

dM/dT rate of change of mass

m2/g meter squared per gram

xiii
 LIST OF ABBREVIATION

AIM Agensi Inovasi Malaysia

ASTM American Society for Testing Material

BET Brunauer, Emmett and Teller

C carbon

Ca calcium

CH4 methane

Cl chlorine

CO carbon monoxide

CO2 carbon dioxide

daf dry-ash-free

db dry basis

db wt % dry basis weight percentage

DTG derivative thermogravimetric

ECN Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands

EFB Empty Fruit Bunches

FELCRA Federal Land Consolidation & Rehabilitation Authority

FELDA Federal Land Development Authority

g gram

GHG greenhouse gas

h hour

H hydrogen

ha hectare

IBI International Biochar Initiative

IEA International Energy Agency

K potassium

mf wt % moisture free weight percentage

xiv
min minute

mL milliliter

N nitrogen

Na sodium

NO2 nitrous oxide

O oxygen

OPS Oil Palm Shell

REN21 the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century

RISDA Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority

SEM scanning electron microscopy

Si silicon

TG thermogravimetric

USDA United States Department of Agriculture

wt weight

wt % weight percentage

xv
 BIOARANG DARIPADA TANDAN BUAH KOSONG KELAPA SAWIT DAN

TEMPURUNG KELAPA SAWIT MELALUI PIROLISIS PERLAHAN

ABSTRAK

Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk menghasilkan bioarang daripada tandan buah kosong kelapa

sawit (EFB) dan tempurung kelapa sawit (OPS) melalui proses pirolisis perlahan berskala

makmal, menyiasat ciri - ciri bioarang yang dihasilkan daripada pelbagai keadaan bahan

mentah dan proses pirolisis, dan membandingkan bioarang yang dihasilkan daripada EFB

dan OPS. Analisis awal telah dijalankan terhadap kedua - dua bahan mentah untuk mengkaji

ciri - ciri bahan. Pra-rawatan basuhan menggunakan air telah dilakukan terhadap bahan

mentah EFB untuk mempelbagaikan kandungan abu bahan mentah. Untuk bahan mentah

EFB, kesan tempoh masa dan kandungan abu bahan mentah terhadap hasil bioarang dan ciri

- cirinya telah disiasat. Tempoh masa telah diubah dari 0.5 jam hingga 4.0 jam, sementara

suhu dan kadar pemanasan masing - masing ditetapkan pada 550 °C dan 5 °C/min. Bahan

mentah EFB yang mempunyai kandungan abu dalam linkungan 1.60 hingga 5.29 mf wt %

telah dipirolisis pada suhu 550 °C dan kadar pemanasan 5 °C/min selama 1 jam. Untuk

bahan mentah OPS, kesan suhu dan tempoh masa terhadap hasil bioarang dan ciri - cirinya

telah dikaji. OPS telah dipirolisis pada 6 suhu yang berbeza; 400 °C, 450 °C, 500 °C, 550

°C, 600 °C and 650 °C pada kadar pemanasan 5 °C/min selama 1 jam. Seterusnya, tempoh

masa diubah dari 0.5 jam hingga 4.0 jam, sementara suhu dan kadar pemanasan masing -

masing ditetapkan pada 550 °C dan 5 °C/min. Hasil bioarang, cecair dan gas ditentukan.

Bioarang dianalisa melalui analisis proksimat, analisis unsur, kajian morfologi permukaan

dan analisis luas kawasan permukaan BET. Didapati bahawa tempoh masa memberikan

pengaruh kecil terhadap hasil produk untuk kedua - dua bahan mentah EFB dan OPS.

Tempoh masa optimum bagi penghasilan bioarang daripada bahan mentah EFB dan OPS

adalah masing - masing pada 1.0 jam dan 4.0 jam. Apabila suhu pirolisis ditingkatkan, hasil

bioarang OPS berkurangan manakala kandungan karbon tetap dan luas kawasan permukaan

xvi
BET meningkat. Pengurangan kandungan abu bahan mentah EFB melalui proses pra-

rawatan basuhan mendorong kepada pengurangan hasil bioarang dan peningkatan kandungan

karbon tetap dan luas kawasan permukaan BET bioarang. Proses pirolisis perlahan bahan

mentah OPS menghasilkan peratusan bioarang yang lebih tinggi berbanding bahan mentah

EFB untuk tempoh masa dari 0.5 jam hingga 4.0 jam. Analisis ciri - ciri bioarang

menunjukkan bioarang OPS mempunyai kandungan karbon tetap dan luas kawasan

permukaan BET yang lebih tinggi berbanding bioarang EFB. Kajian ini menunjukkan

bioarang OPS yang dihasilkan daripada proses pirolisis perlahan berskala makmal

mempunyai kualiti yang lebih baik berbanding bioarang EFB.

xvii
 BIOCHAR FROM OIL PALM EMPTY FRUIT BUNCHES AND OIL PALM

SHELLS VIA SLOW PYROLYSIS

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this study are to produce biochar from oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB)

and oil palm shell (OPS) via laboratory-scale slow pyrolysis system, investigate the

characteristics of biochar produced from various feedstock and pyrolysis conditions, and

compare the biochar produced from EFB and OPS. The preliminary analysis was performed

on both feedstocks to investigate their properties. The water washing pre-treatment was

carried out on the EFB feedstock to vary the ash content of the feedstock. For the EFB

feedstock, the impacts of holding time and feedstock ash content on the biochar yield and

characteristics were investigated. The holding time was varied from 0.5 h to 4.0 h, while the

terminal temperature and heating rate were fixed at 550 °C and 5 °C/min respectively. The

EFB feedstock in the range of 1.60 to 5.29 mf wt % of ash content were pyrolyzed at 550 °C

and 5 °C/min heating rate for 1 h holding time. For the OPS feedstock, the impacts of

terminal temperature and holding time on the biochar yield and characteristics were studied.

The OPS were pyrolyzed at 6 different terminal temperature; 400 °C, 450 °C, 500 °C, 550

°C, 600 °C and 650 °C at 5 °C/min heating rate for 1 h holding time. The holding time was

then varied from 0.5 h to 4.0 h, while the terminal temperature and heating rate were fixed at

550 °C and 5 °C/min respectively. The biochar, liquid and gas yields were determined. The

biochar was analyzed via proximate and elemental analysis, surface morphology study and

BET surface area analysis. It was observed that the holding time had little influence on the

product yields for both EFB and OPS feedstock. It was found that 1.0 h and 4.0 h are the

optimum holding time for EFB and OPS biochar production respectively. As the terminal

temperature elevated, the OPS biochar yield reduced while the fixed carbon content and BET

surface area increased. The reduction of ash content in the EFB feedstock via water washing

pre-treatment led to a decrease of biochar yield and corresponding increase of biochar‟s

xviii
fixed carbon content and BET surface area. The slow pyrolysis of OPS feedstock produced

higher biochar yield as compared to EFB feedstock for varied holding times between 0.5 h to

4.0 h. The analysis of biochar characteristics found that the OPS biochar contain higher fixed

carbon content and has larger BET surface area as compared to the EFB biochar. This study

shows that OPS biochar produced from the laboratory-scale slow pyrolysis process has better

quality as compared to the EFB biochar.

xix
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Research Overview

Energy is one of the core components in human daily life. It is related to economic

development, nature sustainability and human civilization. It is required for meeting all of

the basic needs such as food, health, agriculture, education, information and other

infrastructure services (Rehling et al., 2004).

Energy could be obtained from both renewable and non-renewable resources.

Currently, the main energy resource used by human is from non-renewable resources like

fossil fuels. Coal, oil and natural gas are the three types of fossil fuels which can be used for

energy provision. The formation of fossil fuels takes millions of years while the depletion

process is faster than new ones are being made. Thus it cannot fulfill the energy demand

which is increasing at an exponential rate due to the exponential growth of world population

(Demirbas and Arin, 2002). The side effect from the utilization of fossil fuels causes a lot of

problems in term of environmental sustainability. Fossil fuels burning increase the carbon

dioxide (CO2) concentration, one of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere and causes

global climate change. Climatic consequences such as desertification, a rise in ocean levels

and increased number of hurricanes are among the ample evidences to show that the Earth is

warming due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (Lehmann, 2007a). Air

pollution and contamination of groundwater are also the results from the use of fossil fuels.

Thus, the transition to a sustainable renewable energy resource should be considered and

encouraged to resolve the issue of future energy demand and environment sustainability.

1
1.2 Renewable Energy Scenario

In general, renewable energy is the energy generated from natural resources such as

biomass, sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat which continually replenished.

Renewable energy resources are reliable, sustainable and have the potential to provide

energy services with zero or almost zero emission of both air pollutants and greenhouse

gases (Demirbas, 2005, Manzano-Agugliaro et al., 2013). The utilization of renewable

energy resources is possible to decrease the dependency on fossil fuel, increase the diversity

of energy source option and increase the economic growth by providing new job

opportunities. Besides, it can help to reduce the impact of greenhouse gases and climate

change problems. The awareness about the nature sustainability enabled the renewable

energy sector to grow and expand.

The percentage of global renewable energy consumption reported by the Renewable

Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) is illustrated in Figure 1.1. According

to REN21, renewable energy resources have grown to supply an estimated 16.7% of global

final energy consumption in 2010. It was estimated that 8.2% came from modern renewable

energy resources like hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal, biofuels, and biomass. The other

8.5 % of total global energy was accounted for the traditional biomass which is used

primarily for cooking and heating in rural areas of developing countries (REN21, 2012).

Figure 1.1: Renewable energy share of global final energy consumption in 2010
(REN21, 2012)

2
 In 2011, it was reported that the global investment in the renewable energy power

and fuels increased to $257 billion, which was more than six times of the total dollar

invested in 2004 and 94% more than the total investment in 2007 (McCrone, 2012).

The utilization of renewable energy also draws great attention in Malaysia. The

government had recognized the potential of renewable energy as an alternative to ensure the

sustainability of energy resources. In the Eight Malaysian Plan (2001-2005), renewable

energy was introduced as the Fifth Fuel (Ng et al., 2012). According to this plan, the

renewable energy resources that will be promoted in terms of priority are biomass, biogas,

municipal waste, solar and mini-hydro. The efforts of the utilization of renewable energy

resources were further promoted in the Ninth Malaysian Plan from 2006 to 2010 (Mustapa et

al., 2010).

Renewable energy resources are abundant in Malaysia. Currently, biomass and solar

power are the renewable energy resources being exploited besides the primary energy

sources such as oil, natural gas, hydro power and coal (Poh and Kong, 2002). Thus, to meet

the high demand of energy supply in a sustainable manner, the concerted efforts on the

implementation and development of renewable energy sector is required.

1.3 Biomass and Biochar

In general, biomass refers to forestry, purpose-grown agricultural crops, trees and

plants, and organic, agricultural, agro-industrial and domestic wastes such as municipal and

solid waste (Demirbas and Arin, 2002). According to Demirbas (2009), biomass term also

includes gases and liquids recovered from the decomposition of non-fossilized and

biodegradable organic material. Biomass excludes organic material which has been

transformed by geological processes into substances such as coal or petroleum

(Aghamohammadi et al., 2011).

Biomass is known as one of the major world renewable energy resource. It is a

suitable alternative to substitute the energy dependency on fossil fuel. According to

Demirbas (2009), biomass appears as an attractive resource due to its ability to sustainably

3
developed in the future. It has the attributes that contribute to a healthy environment and

economy. Besides, the utilization of biomass offers great benefits towards the nature by

reducing waste management problem and help in the climate change mitigation. It also has

potential to contribute towards the positive economic growth.

Energy from biomass can be recovered via thermal, biological and physical process.

Thermochemical conversion which includes combustion, gasification and pyrolysis process

(Özçimen and Karaosmanoğlu, 2004, Bridgwater, 2003) is one of the most common routes

applied to convert biomass into various form of energy. These conversion processes are

described and classified by the type of final products obtained, the properties of the

feedstock used and their operation parameters which include temperature, heating rate and

holding time often known as residence time.

Biomass can be converted into solid char, liquid bio-oil and gas products via

pyrolysis products. The gas or syngas produced from the pyrolysis process is composed

primarily of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and gaseous hydrocarbons such as

methane. The gas can be used to supply the energy requirement of pyrolyzer operation

(Abdullah et al., 2010). The gas can be burned to provide the heat required by the pyrolysis

system (Lee et al., 2013). The liquid product or known as bio-oil produced from the

pyrolysis process may be required for further upgrade and improvement before it can be used

as fuel. Meanwhile, char can be used as a solid fuel. It also can be applied to the soil as soil

enhancer or soil amendment. The char produced for this purpose is known as biochar.

Generally, biochar is the black carbon and porous substance formed from slow

pyrolysis process. It is produced specifically to be applied as soil amendment due to its

unusual chemical and physical characteristics (Koide et al., 2011). The production of biochar

was inspired from the fertility of black soil in Amazon which is known as Terra Preta.

The production and application of biochar into soil contributes many benefits

towards the nature sustainability and economic growth. The application of biochar helps the

nature to mitigate the climate change by carbon sequestration (Lehmann et al., 2006, Sohi et

al., 2010a). Besides, the utilization of biomass such as agriculture residue, crop waste, wood

4
chip and organic waste as the feedstock will reduce the waste management problems as well

as the emission of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane

(CH4) and nitrous oxide (NO2) from the degradation of the dumped wastes (Lehmann et al.,

2006). The addition of biochar into soil will improve the soil function by increasing water

holding capacity (Glaser et al., 2002), increase soil organic carbon, neutralize soil acidity and

increase soil pH (Chan et al., 2007). The improvement of soil quality then will increase the

crop yield.

1.4 Oil Palm Biomass

Malaysia has a significant amount of agricultural activities. The abundant of biomass

such as agricultural wastes could be turned into alternative source of renewable energy.

Oil palm biomass is one of the potential renewable energy resources identified by

the Malaysia government. Oil palm wastes are high-potential biomass energy resources in

Malaysia because Malaysia is the second largest producer and exporter of palm oil in the

world. In 2012, up to 5.08 million hectares of land is cultivated with oil palm (MPOB, 2012).

With the growth of oil palm industry, the amount of residues produced also shows a

significant increment. The palm oil sector generates the largest amount of biomass, estimated

at 80 million dry tonnes in 2010 and this amount is expected to increase about 100 million

dry tonnes by 2020 as reported by Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM, 2011).

Biomass obtained from oil palm industry include empty fruit bunches (EFB), oil

palm shells (OPS), mesocarp fibers or pressed fruit fibers (PFF), oil palm fronds (OPF) and

oil palm trunks (OPT). EFB, OPS and PFF are the oil palm wastes generated from the mills.

Meanwhile, OPF and OPT are obtained from the field or plantations. The estimate of dry

matter production of oil palm biomass based on the statistics of planted area and average

yield of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) obtained from Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) is

shown in Table 1.1.

5
 Table 1.1: Estimates of dry matter production of oil palm biomass
(Khor, 2009, MPOB, 2011, MPOB, 2013)

Biomass from mills Biomass from fields

Total
Year EFB PFF OPS OPF OPT
(mil.
(mil. (mil. (mil. (mil. (mil. tonnes)
tonnes) tonnes) tonnes) tonnes) tonnes)
2003 5.559 5.848 3.375 40.31 3.971 59.063
2004 5.550 5.838 3.370 40.98 3.497 59.235
2005 5.889 6.195 3.575 42.84 3.643 62.142
2006 6.286 6.612 3.816 44.11 4.100 64.924
2007 6.308 6.636 3.830 45.78 5.170 67.724
2008 8.204 8.631 4.981 47.44 3.932 73.188
2009 6.935 7.295 4.210 50.11 6.809 75.359
2010 6.737 7.087 4.091 52.16 8.702 78.777
2011 7.581 7.974 4.603 53.24 6.397 79.795
2012 7.384 7.767 4.483 54.08 6.620 80.334

From Table 1.1, it can be observed that the total estimated amount of biomass

generated from the mills and fields of the oil palm industry is increasing over the years. Most

of the oil palm wastes such as OPF are left on the fields. Meanwhile, the solid biomass

generated from the mill such as EFB is either to be used as organic fertilizer and soil cover

material or dumped around the mill due to the high generation rate along with its limitation

for current utilization (Paepatung et al., 2009).

Thus, the utilization of this abundant biomass resource as the feedstock to produce

useful products such as biochar is a good way to reduce waste management problem. The

sustainable utilization of the oil palm wastes also can be one of the ways to abate damage to

the natural environment caused by fossil fuel consumption.

1.5 Problem Statement

The abundance of wastes generated from the palm oil industry in Malaysia shows a

significant increment every year. The wastes such as EFB and OPS are mostly dumped in the

mill area due to the high rate of wastes generation along its limited utilization. These wastes

6
could be used as the feedstocks to produce biochar and therefore help minimize the waste

management problem.

The emission of carbon dioxide, one of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases have

risen by more than 3% annually (Ghani et al., 2013), and this resulted in a rapid rise in global

temperature which resulted to the shift of weather patterns. Therefore, a new approach to

maintain carbon in a stable from that can be stored outside the atmosphere for longer periods

should be developed (Rebitanim et al., 2013). The production and utilization of biochar have

been suggested as a promising way to reduce the percentage of carbon dioxide in the

atmosphere.

The yield and characteristics of biochar are depends on various factors such as the

feedstock type, chemical and structural composition of feedstock, operating parameter,

heating rate, holding time as well as the type of reactor. Currently, a few studies have been

carried out in Malaysia such as reported by Khor and Lim (2008), Khor et al. (2010), Khor

(2012), Shafie et al. (2012b), Kong S.H. et al. (2012), and Abnisa et al. (2013) to

characterize the biochar produced from oil palm wastes under different conditions. However,

further studies should be conducted due to insufficient and incomplete data and information

of biochar characteristics produced from oil palm wastes under different production

conditions.

The study of biochar characterization is necessary because of their potential

environmental applications such as soil amending and atmospheric carbon sequestration. It

is also necessary in order to understand the type of biochar that can promote plant growth.

This research will provide more understanding into the properties of biochar and the

influence of its feedstock from which it is produced.

1.6 Objectives and Scope of Research

This research aims to produce biochar from slow pyrolysis of oil palm empty fruit

bunches (EFB) and oil palm shell (OPS) using a laboratory-scale slow pyrolysis system and

investigate the characteristics of biochar produced under different conditions. It covers the

7
study of EFB and OPS feedstocks characterization, slow pyroysis experiments of EFB and

OPS and the characteristics of EFB and OPS biochars. Two different parameters are applied

for the slow pyrolysis experiments of each EFB and OPS feedstocks. For EFB, the effect of

holding time and feedstock ash content are studied. Water washing pre-treatment is

conducted to vary the ash content of EFB feedstock. For OPS, the effects of temperature and

holding time are studied. The study of the effect of ash content is not conducted for OPS in

this research because OPS feedstock has lower percentage of ash content as compared to the

EFB feedstock.

The objectives of this study are listed as follows:

(i) To study the characteristics of the EFB and OPS feedstocks for slow pyrolysis

process.

(ii) To apply pre-treatment process on feedstock including size reduction and drying

process. Water washing pre-treatment is performed on the EFB feedstock only.

(iii) To investigate the impact of various parameters such as terminal temperature,

holding time and ash content of the feedstock on biochar yield and its characteristics.

(iv) To identify the impact of washing treatment of EFB on biochar produced.

(v) To compare and study the characteristics of biochar produced from EFB and OPS.

1.7 Thesis Structure

This thesis consists of five chapters; Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology,

Results and Discussions, and Conclusion and Recommendations.

Chapter 1 describes the brief introduction to energy, biomass and biochar. Simple

details on the current scenario of renewable energy and oil palm sector also explained in this

chapter.

Chapter 2 provides the detail information about the biomass, energy conversion

technology, biochar and the utilization oil palm wastes as feedstock. The literature review

from other researcher works on the applied methods and recent findings of topics above are

presented.

8
 Chapter 3 describes the details of materials used and experimental method in this

study. This chapter also elaborates the method of characterization of feedstock and biochar.

Chapter 4 presents the data and results obtained from the slow pyrolysis experiments

and related analysis such as proximate and elemental analysis of both feedstock and biochar.

The effects of different parameters such as holding time, ash content and terminal

temperature on the yield percentage and properties of biochar are discussed. The results

obtained are compared to the findings of the literature in Chapter 2.

Chapter 5 summarizes and concludes the findings from this study. The

recommendations for future works are also included.

9
 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

This chapter provides the background and review of biomass and its conversion

technology, oil palm wastes and biochar.

The review of biomass discusses about the structure of woody biomass and

composition of various types of biomass. It is followed by the potential and utilization of

biomass as renewable energy resource. This chapter outlines the conversion technology used

to convert the biomass into energy via different routes of conversion process including

pyrolysis process.

This chapter also briefs the current scenario of oil palm industry in Malaysia and the

utilization of the wastes from the oil palm industry. It reviews the studies of the pyrolysis

process using the different types of oil palm wastes. In the end of this chapter, the definition

and background of the biochar is introduced. It reviews the properties, benefits, production

activities of biochar and the findings from the studies of pyrolysis of biomass for biochar

production.

2.2 Biomass

Biomass is one of the renewable energy resources. Biomass generally refers to the

organic matter that has stored energy from sunlight via photosynthesis process. Biomass

includes all organic material that stems from plants including algae, trees and crops

(McKendry, 2002a). Biomass can refer to non-fossilized and biodegradable organic material

deriving from animals and microorganisms and also the domestic wastes such as municipal

and solid wastes (Demirbas, 2009, Demirbas and Arin, 2002).

10
 Biomass resources include the crops which were planted specifically for energy use

and the residues or leftover wastes from the plants that are used for other purposes (Garza,

2007). Sugarcane, switchgrass, corn, wheat, soybeans and sunflowers are the examples of the

biomass which were grown for energy use. Meanwhile, sawdust, paper mill sludge,

agricultural wastes, leftover wood and garbage are the waste matter generated from forestry,

agricultural and manufacturing industries which also appeared as a source for biomass

energy.

The utilization of biomass as the feedstock for bioenergy production has attracted

attentions due to its properties as a renewable resource that could be developed in a

sustainable manner. Besides, it appears to have positive environmental properties resulting in

no net release of carbon dioxide and very low sulfur content (Gheorghe et al., 2009).

Moreover, biomass has the potential to make a large contribution to rural development in

term of economic and social benefits.

2.2.1 Structure and Compositions

Biomass consists of a complex mixture of organic materials such as carbohydrates,

fats and proteins, along with small amounts of minerals such as sodium, phosphorus, calcium

and iron. For plant biomass, the main components consist of extractives, fiber or cell wall

components and ash as shown in Figure 2.1.

Components of
wood biomass

Cell wall
Extractives Ash
components

Cellulose Lignin Hemicellulose

Figure 2.1 : Major constituents of a woody biomass (Basu, 2010)

11
 Extractives are the substances that exist in the biomass tissues which function as

intermediates in metabolism, as energy reserves and as defenses against microbial and insect

attack (Mohan et al., 2006). It can be extracted by certain treatment with the polar or non-

polar solvents and recovered by evaporation of the solution. Protein, oil, simple sugar, fat,

waxes, starches and resin are the examples of the extractive.

Ash is the inorganic mineral component of biomass. The elements of ash present in

biomass are Si, Ca, K, Na, Mg and small amount of S, P, Fe, Mn and Al (Raveendran et al.,

1995). The percentage of ash content varies for different biomass as shown in Table 2.1.

This percentage gives a remarkable impact during biomass energy conversion. Abdullah et

al. (2007) found that yield of liquid product of fast pyrolysis process increased as the ash

content of the empty fruit bunches feedstock was reduced via washing treatment. The highest

yield for liquids produced from washed EFB (less ash content) was increased to be around

72% compared to liquids produced from unwashed EFB, which was about 55%. They also

found that the reduction of ash content to less than about 3 mf wt % led to the production of

homogeneous liquid.

Table 2.1: Composition of ash content in various type of biomass

Type of biomass Ash Content Reference

(db wt %)
Bamboo sawdust 1.83 (Jung et al., 2008)
Oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) 7.54 (Omar et al., 2011)
Oil palm trunk (OPT) 10.30 (Lim and Lim, 1992)
Oil palm fiber (OPF) 7.00 (Lu et al., 2012)
Oil palm shell (OPS) 4.38
(Uemura et al., 2011)
Mesocarp fiber 3.32
Rice husk 17.13 (Lin et al., 1998)
Apricot stone 1.41
Hazelnut shell 1.83 (Özçimen and Ersoy-
Grapeseed 7.49 Meriçboyu, 2010)

Chestnut shell 1.59

12
 Meanwhile, cell wall components of wood biomass consist of cellulose,

hemicelluloses and lignin. They are the three main constituents in the lignocellulosic

material compositions. Cellulose is the primary structural component in the lignocellulosic

biomass. Its molecular structure is shown in Figure 2.2. It is linear and remarkable pure

organic polymer which consists solely of units of anhydroglucose. It is insoluble in water

and most of organic solvent. The degradation occurs around 240 °C till 350 °C to produce

anhydrocellulose and levoglucosan (Mohan et al., 2006). Cellulose also has a high strength

due to the crystalline structure of thousands of units which are made of many glucose

molecules (Basu, 2010).

Figure 2.2: Molecular structure of cellulose

The cellulose molecules in the plant cell wall are interconnected by another

molecule called hemicelluloses. It is also known as polyose. It is a mixture of various

polymerized monosacharides such as glucose, mannose, galactose, xylose, arabinose 4-O-

methyl glucuronic acid and galacturonic acid residues (Mohan et al., 2006). These main

components are shown in Figure 2.3. Compared to cellulose, hemicellulose is a branched

polymer and consists of shorter chains, has amorphous structure with little strength, soluble

in weak alkaline solutions and degraded at 200 °C - 260 °C, thus tends to yield more gases

(volatiles) and less tar than cellulose (Basu, 2010, Tiwari and Mishra, 2011).

13
 Figure 2.3: Main components of hemicelluloses

The other main constituent in lignocellulosic composition is lignin. It is a complex

polymer which is built of hydrophenylprophane units. It functions as the main binder or

cementing agent for the agglomeration of cellulose fiber component. Lignin decomposes

when heated in the temperature range of 280 °C to 500 °C (Tiwari and Mishra, 2011). It is

known as the most thermally resistant component compare to cellulose and hemicelluloses

due to its complex chemical composition. According to Mohan et al. (2006), lignin pyrolysis

produces more residual char than does the pyrolysis of cellulose.

Table 2.2 shows the percentage of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin of various

types of biomass. It can be observed that the percentage of cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin

and extractive are varied for different type of biomass. The determination of this

composition is important for a better understanding about the thermal conversion of

lignocellulosic biomass. The cellulose contents of oil palm EFB found by Abnisa et al.

(2013) is 51.2 % which is different with Omar et al. (2011). According to Omar et al.

(2011), the dissimilarity of the composition of the same type of biomass might be due to the

age and type of the plant as well as the location of the plantation from where the samples

were obtained.

14
 Table 2.2: Biochemical composition of various types of biomass fuels

Notes and
Biomass Hemicellulose Cellulose Lignin Extractive
Reference
Almond shell 28.9 50.7 20.4 2.5
Hazelnut shell 30.4 26.8 42.9 3.3
wt % daf
Olive husk 23.6 24.0 48.4 9.4
(Demirbaş, 2002)
Sunflower shell 34.6 48.4 17.0 2.7
Walnut shell 22.7 25.6 52.3 2.8
Tea waste 19.9 30.2 40.0 9.9 wt % dry
Wheat straw 39.1 28.8 18.6 n/a (Demirbaş, 1997)
wt % dry
Oil palm EFB 21.6 23.7 29.2 n/a
(Omar et al., 2011)
Mesocarp fiber 30.5 23.7 27.3 n/a wt %
Oil palm EFB 22.5 51.2 21.3 n/a (Abnisa et al.,
Oil palm shell 21.6 27.7 44.0 n/a 2013)

Bamboo 17.6 39.5 25.2 n/a

Coconut shell 24.7 24.2 34.9 n/a
Corn cob 25.2 26.3 16.3 n/a wt %
Garlic waste 6.9 24.2 8.5 n/a (Antal et al., 2000)
Oak wood 18.6 34.5 28.0 n/a
Rice hull 16.8 30.9 35.9 n/a
Note: n/a- not available

2.2.2 Potential and Utilization of Biomass

The abundance of wide range of biomass around the world makes it as a potential

renewable energy resource. About 120 billion tonnes of biomass, the energy capacity of

which is five times the total present energy consumption in the world, is formed each year by

means of photosynthesis. However, only 1% of the total energy capacity has been used as

energy (Mengjie and Suzhen, 1994). Photosynthesis is a process used by plants to convert

light from the sun to chemical energy which is stored in the form of carbohydrate molecules.

The list of potential biomass resources is listed in Table 2.3.

15
 Table 2.3: Potential biomass as renewable energy resources (Wang and Keshwani, 2010)

Group of Biomass Biomass Details

Sugarcane Used for ethanol production for
gasoline-ethanol fuel blends and
production of jiggery, refined sugar and
alcoholic beverages.
Sugar Crops Sugar Beet Grown commercially for sugar
production due to high concentration of
sucrose in its root.
Sweet Sorghum Used for production of sugar, syrup,
fuel and roofing applications.
Corn, wheat, potato
Starch Crops Food sources.
Sweet Potato
Agricultural Corn stover, wheat straw, Available for energy production and
Residues rice straw other value-added applications.
Switchgrass
Herbaceous As the feedstock for solid, liquid and
Mischantus
Biomass gaseous forms of energy.
Coastal Bermuda Grass
Hardwoods Cultivated for direct combustion,
gasification and production of
Woody Biomass briquettes.
Softwoods Dominant source of lignocellulosic
materials (in northern hemisphere).
Soybean Food sources, medicinal and fuel
purposes.
Rapeseed (Canola) Production of animal feed and
vegetable oil.
Oilseeds
Sunflower For oil production.
Oil Palm Production of edible oil.
Waste Edible Oil Leftover from oil that has been used in
cooking foods.

In Malaysia, the plantation such as palm oil, rubber, cocoa, wood, timber, pineapple,

coconut and pepper have the great potential to produce biomass residues (Shafie et al.,

2012a). Other available biomass resources include empty fruit bunches, rice husk, sugarcane

bagasse, manure, sawdust and grass crops. At least 168 million tonnes of biomass including

municipal waste was produced annually (Ghani and Alias, 2013). Therefore, Malaysia has a

great potential in turning the plentiful and abundant supply of biomass into renewable energy

resource.

16
 In general, biomass can be used for heat and power generation via burning process,

digestion process to produce gas-like fuels such as methane and hydrogen and

thermochemical conversion process such as pyrolysis and gasification (Demirbas, 2005).

Biomass from the plantation usually is used as fuel to generate steam and electricity. For

example, the bagasse is utilized as boiler fuels for the operation of sugar mills. (Shafie et al.,

2012a). Oil palm wastes such as mesocarp fiber, shell, empty fruit bunches and the mill

effluent are also used as the fuels for the boiler for fresh fruit bunches processing activity in

the mill (Mahlia et al., 2001). It is also reported that the biomass becomes a major source of

energy in a few foreign countries and numerous studies were carried out to develop ways of

using biomass as an alternative to fossil fuels. For example, there is a large biomass plant

found in Sweden, a large number of cars use alcohol to substitute petrol in Brazil and the

attempts to develop power station which run solely on wood in United Kingdom (Demirbas,

2005).

The utilization of biomass as renewable energy resources offers a lot of benefits

towards our nature and environment. It is one of the ways to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2)

from the atmosphere and help to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gases. This

can be achieved because biomass is derived from living plants that need CO 2 for its growth.

The planting of plants will absorb CO2 from the atmosphere via photosynthesis process. The

production of biochar from biomass via pyrolysis process and the application of biochar into

soil promote carbon negative effects because biochar systems can hold a substantial portion

of carbon in soil, as compared to carbon neutral withdrawal by photosynthesis as shown in

Figure 2.4. The normal or neutral carbon cycle on the left side of Figure 2.4 illustrates the

carbon cycle in which the amount of CO2 taken up by plants via photosynthesis is equal to

the amount of CO2 released back into the atmosphere by soil respiration. Meanwhile, in

biochar carbon cycle, the agricultural wastes could be used as the feedstock for biochar

production, and roughly half of the plant‟s carbon is retained as stable carbon in the biochar

instead of being released to the atmosphere via decomposition or burning process. The

application of biochar which is a carbon-rich material into the soil also will lock the carbon

17
in soil for longer time. Thus, there is a net decrease of carbon in the atmosphere. The

difference of the net carbon withdrawal from atmosphere by the normal photosynthesis

system and biochar system is estimated about 20%. On the other hand, the utilization of

biomass as renewable energy resources help to avoid the adverse environmental effects from

the conventional methods of biomass residues disposal such as dumping and open air

burning.

Figure 2.4: Comparison of normal carbon cycle and biochar carbon cycle (Lehmann, 2007b)

In term of social benefits, the utilization of biomass as renewable energy resources

would improve life quality by reducing the harmful effect towards human health as

compared with fossil fuel used. The development and implementation of biomass conversion

technology also could offer local employment opportunities as well as introduce new skills

and knowledge to society.

Therefore, with the potential and benefits offered, the utilization of biomass as

renewable energy resources should be expanded to achieve higher consumption and

application in the local and global market. The encouragement and support from the

18
government and related organizations and agencies will overcome the barriers and open

more opportunities for better implementation.

2.3 Biomass Conversion Technology

Biomass can be converted into energy by thermochemical, biological and physical

processes. The choice of the appropriate conversion process is usually influenced by certain

factors such as the type and quantity of biomass, the desired final products, environmental

standards, economic conditions and project specific factors (McKendry, 2002b). Usually the

desired final product is the main factor in the determination of the conversion routes. The

details of the processes are described as follows:

a) Thermochemical Processes

Thermochemical process can be described as the modification of the physical and

chemical properties of biomass by thermal interaction in a controlled environment

(Titiladunayo et al., 2012). The thermochemical conversion process provides three main

options to convert the biomass into various form of energy. They are combustion,

gasification and pyrolysis.

Combustion is the process of burning the biomass in the air to obtain the energy in

the form of heat, mechanical power or electricity. Demirbas (2004) reported that combustion

is responsible for over 97% of the world bioenergy production. According to McKendry

(2002b), this process is suitable for the biomass having the moisture content less than 50%.

The biomass should undergo pre-drying treatment if it has higher moisture content. On the

other hand, gasification is the process that converts the biomass into synthesis gas or called

syngas which is a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane together with carbon

dioxide and nitrogen under oxygen-deficient condition and occurs at the high temperature,

generally higher than 700 °C (Bridgwater, 2003, Demirbas, 2004, Gautam et al., 2010).

Pyrolysis process is described in details in the next section.

19
b) Biological Process

The conversion of biomass into energy such as fuels includes ethanol fermentation

by yeast or bacteria and methane production by microbial consortia under anaerobic

conditions (Miyamoto, 1997). Anaerobic digestion is a suitable way to convert high moisture

biomass into a biogas which is a mixture of mainly methane and carbon dioxide. Meanwhile,

the fermentation process is carried out commercially in many countries on a large scale for

ethanol production from sugar crops such as sugar cane and sugar beet as well as the starch

crops like maize and wheat (McKendry, 2002b).

c) Physical Process

Densification of the loose materials into a more compact form which includes

pelletizing and briquetting is the process involved in the physical conversion process of

biomass. The natural state of biomass usually have high moisture content, irregular shape

and size and low bulk density, thus make it difficult to handle, transport, store and utilize

(Lope Tabil et al., 2011) . Pelletizing and briquetting processes will make the biomass as the

suitable feedstock for solid fuel.

2.3.1 Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis is one of the promising ways to convert biomass into various form of

energy. It is a process of thermochemical degradation of the biomass at relatively low

temperature around 500 °C to 800 °C (Nan et al., 1994, Bridgwater and Grassi, 1991) under

limited or absence of oxygen. Goyal et al. (2008) reported that the pyrolysis of biomass may

start at 350 °C to 550 °C and goes up to 700 °C . Meanwhile, the pyrolysis process of

biomass such as wood can start at the temperature as low as 200 °C and lasts till 450 °C to

500 °C depending on its properties (Sinha et al., 2000). The pyrolysis of biomass produces

the useful solid char, condensable liquids and gases. The proportion and compositions of

these products varies according to the type of pyrolysis employed.

20
 Babu (2008) claimed the pyrolysis mechanism started by the heat transfer to the

solid particle surface of biomass by radiation and/or convection and then to the inside of the

particle when the biomass is heated in an inert atmosphere. Next, the moisture removal in the

biomass occurs due to the temperature increment within the biomass particle. The rise of

temperature then initiated the pyrolysis process. The volatile and gaseous products flow

through the pores of the particle during heat transfer process. The pyrolysis process proceeds

with a rate depending on the local temperature. As the biomass converts into gases during

the reaction, the pores of the solid particle becomes more porous. Thus, the enlarged pores

provide many reaction sites to the volatile and gaseous products of pyrolysis and favor their

interaction with the hot solid particle of biomass.

The general flow and changes that happen during the pyrolysis process as described

by Sinha et al. (2000) and Mohan et al. (2006) can be simplified as shown in Figure 2.5.

21
Temperature increment inside the fuel caused by the heat transfer from a heat
source

The initiation of pyrolysis reaction due to the rise of temperature which lead
to the release of volatiles and formation of char.

Heat transfer between hot volatiles and cooler unpyrolyzed fuel due to the
flow of volatiles towards the ambient part.

Production of tar due to the condensation of some of the volatiles in the

cooler parts followed by secondary reactions

Secondary reactions continue while the primary reactions (release of volatile

as describe in the second stage) occur simultaneously.

Further thermal degradation, reforming, water gas shift reactions, radicals

recombinations and dehydrations can also occur by the influence of process
condition like temperature, residence time and pressure.

Figure 2.5: Flow of pyrolysis process

22
2.3.1 (a) Fast Pyrolysis

Fast pyrolysis is characterized by the high temperature and heating rate. It favors

liquid or bio-oil and gas production. The biomass used for the feedstock of fast pyrolysis

usually is finely ground due to the very high heating rate and heat transfer rate at the reaction

interface (Bridgwater, 2003). Babu (2008) reported that fast pyrolysis involves the

temperature ranging from 580 °C to 980 °C. Meanwhile Bridgwater and Bridge (1991) stated

the temperature range for fast pyrolysis is around 450 °C to 900 °C.

Besides, the fast pyrolysis is capable of producing high yield of liquid up to 70 % wt

on a dry feed basis in a lab-scale which involves the combination of high heating rate as high

as 1000 °C/s to 10 000 °C/s, moderate temperature of less than 650 °C, and short residence

time; 0.5 – 5 s (Bridgwater and Bridge, 1991). These conditions are the preferred parameters

to maximize the production of pyrolysis oil. However, the terminal temperature can be

increased at higher temperature if the production of gas is the major interest.

Various types of biomass feedstock such as residue from cassava plants (Pattiya,

2011), corn cobs and corn stover (Mullen et al., 2010), and oil palm wastes (Kim et al., 2010,

Abdullah and Bridgwater, 2006) were used to study the influence of operation parameters

and the production of bio-oil via fast pyrolysis process.

2.3.1 (b) Slow Pyrolysis

Slow pyrolysis is also known as conventional pyrolysis. This process favors char as

the major product. It also produces liquid and gas. During the process, the feedstock will be

heated at low heating rate and moderate temperature around 600 °C with the residence time

varies from 5- 30 min (Basu, 2010, Bridgwater and Bridge, 1991). Compared to the fast

pyrolysis process, the heating rate used in the slow pyrolysis process is quite low which is

around 5 °C/min to 20 °C/min (Grierson et al., 2011).

Generally, the slow pyrolysis of dry lignocellulosic biomass could produce about 20

to 40 wt % of solid char or biochar (Lee et al., 2013). The percentages varied according to

certain circumstances such as biomass properties, pyrolysis temperature, heating rate and

23
residence time. From numerous studies conducted, temperature is recognized as the most

influential parameter in the determination of the final product yield percentage and

characteristics (Lua et al., 2004, Downie et al., 2009).

A significant amount of studies on slow pyrolysis have been carried out to

investigate the impact of pyrolysis paramaters on the production and characterization of the

biochar (Ghani et al., 2013, Gheorghe et al., 2009, Natarajan and Ganapathy Sundaram,

2009) and bio-oil (Duman et al., 2011) produced. Different types of biomass such as pine

wood, wheat straw, green waste, dried algae (Ronsse et al., 2013), dry freshwater algae

(Chaiwong et al., 2012), giant miscanthus (Lee et al., 2013), cherry seeds, cherry seeds shells

(Duman et al., 2011), oil palm wastes (Khor, 2012, Khor and Lim, 2008), apricot stone,

hazelnut shell, grapeseed and chestnut shell (Özçimen and Ersoy-Meriçboyu, 2010) were

used as the feedstock in the slow pyrolysis process.

Lee et al. (2013) conducted a slow pyrolysis experiment on giant michantus to study

the impact of pyrolysis temperature on the biochar yield and properties for soil applications

using lab-scale packed bed reactor. The temperature were varied at 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C,

600 °C and 700 °C with heating rate of 10 °C/min. It was found that the percentage of

biochar yield decreases from 49.54 wt % to 27.15 wt % as the temperature increased from

300 °C to 500 °C. However, after 500 °C, the decrement of biochar yield is quite

insignificant. This is due to the decomposition of hemicelluloses and cellulose which has

completed. Thus, the biochar production from giant michantus is appropriate at 500 °C by

considering the properties of char and amount of heat required.

The decrement of char produced from the slow pyrolysis experiments as the

temperature elevated were also observed in the other studies. In the study of slow pyrolysis

of pomegranate seeds, the biochar yield decreases from 41.47 wt % to 27.87 wt % as the

temperature increased from 400 °C to 800 °C (Uçar and Karagöz, 2009).

Duman et al. (2011) studied the slow pyrolysis of cherry seeds and cheery seeds

shells in the fixed bed reactor at different pyrolysis temperatures. The temperatures were set

at 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C and 600 °C. The feedstock was heated at 5 °C/min and 1 hour

24