Pyrolysis of oil palm fronds in a fixed bed reactor and optimisation of bio-oil using Box-Behnken design

Khairuddin Md Isa; L.J. Ying; Saiful Azhar Saad; Farizul Hafiz Kasim; Mohd Asri Ab Rahim

Authors

Khairuddin Md Isa School of Environmental Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau Perlis, Malaysia
L.J. Ying School of Environmental Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau Perlis, Malaysia
Saiful Azhar Saad School of Environmental Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau Perlis, Malaysia
Farizul Hafiz Kasim School of Environmental Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau Perlis, Malaysia
Mohd Asri Ab Rahim School of Environmental Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau Perlis, Malaysia

Keywords:

Oil palm fronds , Bio-oil , Pyrolysis

Abstract

A study of the direct pyrolysis of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) fronds, OPF was conducted in a fixed-bed reactor. The product yields are bio-oil, bio-char and bio-gas. The bio-gas product was analyzed using a portable 5 gas emission analyzer. Effects of pyrolysis parameters such as temperature, heating rate and nitrogen flow rate were studied and optimization was performed using Box-Behnken design. The results from the software suggested the optimal conditions can be attained at temperature of of 600oC, heating rate of 40oC/min and nitrogen flow rate rate at 50 ml/min with the produced yield is expected at 26.80 and the confirmation runs were giving an average of 26.3. The highest oxygen removal was found in between 350-450oC via decarboxylation and decarbonylation. The pyrolysis of oil palm fronds demonstrates a promising route to produce an alternative fuel.