Carbonisation of oil palm trunks at moderate temperatures

✍ Scribed by K.O. Lim; K.S. Lim

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 362 KB
• Volume: 40
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0960-8524
• DOI: 10.1016/0960-8524(92)90145-n

✦ Synopsis

Thousands of tonnes of dry oil palm trunks will be produced annually in Malaysia after about 1990. A project was initiated to study the feasibility of converting palm trunks into charcoal. Carbonisation was done at terminal temperatures of 400-550°C with holding times of 1-3 h and at two heating rates. From laboratory-scale pyrolysis studies, it was found that holding time does not affect the quantity and quality of the charcoal produced, while heating rate has a minor influence. However, as terminal temperature increases, both yield and volatile content decrease while the fixed carbon content increases. The calorific value and ash contents are independent of the parameters studied and their respective values are 4032 kcal/kg and 37"2%. Since the calorific value is low and the ash content high, it is concluded that oil palm trunks are not suitable for the production of charcoal fuel.