Experimental Investigation on Water Washing and Decomposition Behaviour for Empty Fruit Bunch

Muhammad Ariff Hanaffi Mohd Fuad; Hasan Mohd Faizal; Farid Nasir Ani

Authors

Muhammad Ariff Hanaffi Mohd Fuad School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Hasan Mohd Faizal School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Farid Nasir Ani School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Keywords:

Empty fruit bunch, water washing, optimum condition, ash content reduction

Abstract

A series of experiment was performed at various operating conditions (stirring speed, biomass-to-water ratio and duration) to obtain the optimum condition for washing empty fruit bunch (EFB). The optimum condition for water washing pre-treatment was determined based on the level of ash content reduction. The washed EFB was also compared with unwashed EFB, Huangling coal (Chinese type coal) and international benchmark. The results show that stirring speed of 180rpm, biomass-to-water ratio of 1:20, and duration of 1 hour can be considered as the optimum condition with about 41% reduction if compared to the ash content of unwashed EFB. In addition, it was found that the nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) contents decrease and the high heating value (HHV) slightly increases due to the removal of some alkali and alkaline earth materials (AAEMs) compound after washing pre-treatment. However, washed EFB was found to be less reactive after the removal of AAEMs compound. On top of that, the properties such as HHV, carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) contents of washed EFB were considered slightly better than unwashed EFB.