Laboratory-scale Pyrolysis of Oil Palm Trunks

Abstract

The slow pyrolysis of oil palm trunks was investigated in a lab-scale pyrolyzer at terminal temperatures from 450 to 800°C, and a heating rate of 10°C min⁻¹. The oil palm trunk was first pyrolyzed in a thermogravimetric analyzer to study the thermal characteristics, and to determine the kinetic parameters. The lab-scale pyrolysis results showed that as the terminal temperature increased, the yields of solid char and total condensates decreased, but the non-condensable gases increased. The quality of the char produced, which was found to be somewhat dependent on the terminal pyrolysis temperature, is of medium grade as its average ash content of 13.51% is high. The best oil palm trunk char with 70.81% of fixed carbon, and an energy content of 28.05 MJ kg⁻¹ was obtainable at a terminal pyrolysis temperature of 700°C. However, char quality can be improved by pretreatment that results in deashing of the raw material. The chemical characterization of the liquid products that separate into two fractions showed that they may be a potential source of valuable fuel and chemical feedstocks.

Keywords:

• oil palm trunk
• oil palm trunk char
• oil palm trunk oil
• slow pyrolysis