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Title: Steam explosion of oil palm residues for the production of durable pellets

Abstract

Here we investigated the effect of steam explosion pretreatment on the physical and mechanical properties of the pellets made from empty fruit bunch (EFB) and palm kernel shell (PKS) and we compared to that of softwood Douglas fir (DF). We found that the high heating value of the empty fruit bunch was increased by 21% after steam explosion pretreatment. The pellet density of EFB and Douglas fir pellets did not change while the pellet density of PKS increased from 1.13 to 1.21 g/cm3 after steam explosion. That may be attributed to the rapid volatilization of high mass fraction extractives during high pressure steaming and lead to the shrinkage of micropores of the PKS fibers. The maximum brealdng strength of steam exploded EFB and PKS were increased by 63% and 45%, respectively. The required compaction energy for the steam exploded EFB pellet is 44.50 J/g while that of the untreated EFB pellet is 30.15 J/g. Similar to Douglas fir, the required extrusion energy for the steam exploded EFB pellet was about 6 times than that of the untreated EFB pellet. The increased extrusion energy is mainly contributed by the increase in mono-saccharides by auto-hydrolysis during steam explosion pretreatment.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [4];  [5];  [4]
  1. Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Canada). Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering
  2. Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Canada). Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering
  3. Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Canada). Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Science Division
  4. Queen's Univ., Kingston, ON (Canada). Queen's Inst. for Energy and Environmental Policy; TorchLight Bioresources Inc., Toronto, ON (Canada)
  5. Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (Canada). Dept. of Wood Science; TorchLight Bioresources Inc., Toronto, ON (Canada)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); TorchLight Bioresources Inc.; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)
OSTI Identifier:
1328297
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1247593
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Applied Energy
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 141; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0306-2619
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 09 BIOMASS FUELS; Empty fruit bunch; Palm kernel shell; Pellet; Density; Compression energy; Steam explosion

Citation Formats

Lam, Pak Sui, Lam, Pak Yiu, Sokhansanj, Shahab, Lim, C. Jim, Bi, Xiaotao T., Stephen, James D., Pribowo, Amadeus, and Mabee, Warren E. Steam explosion of oil palm residues for the production of durable pellets. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.12.029.
Lam, Pak Sui, Lam, Pak Yiu, Sokhansanj, Shahab, Lim, C. Jim, Bi, Xiaotao T., Stephen, James D., Pribowo, Amadeus, & Mabee, Warren E. Steam explosion of oil palm residues for the production of durable pellets. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.12.029
Lam, Pak Sui, Lam, Pak Yiu, Sokhansanj, Shahab, Lim, C. Jim, Bi, Xiaotao T., Stephen, James D., Pribowo, Amadeus, and Mabee, Warren E. Sat . "Steam explosion of oil palm residues for the production of durable pellets". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.12.029. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1328297.
@article{osti_1328297,
title = {Steam explosion of oil palm residues for the production of durable pellets},
author = {Lam, Pak Sui and Lam, Pak Yiu and Sokhansanj, Shahab and Lim, C. Jim and Bi, Xiaotao T. and Stephen, James D. and Pribowo, Amadeus and Mabee, Warren E.},
abstractNote = {Here we investigated the effect of steam explosion pretreatment on the physical and mechanical properties of the pellets made from empty fruit bunch (EFB) and palm kernel shell (PKS) and we compared to that of softwood Douglas fir (DF). We found that the high heating value of the empty fruit bunch was increased by 21% after steam explosion pretreatment. The pellet density of EFB and Douglas fir pellets did not change while the pellet density of PKS increased from 1.13 to 1.21 g/cm3 after steam explosion. That may be attributed to the rapid volatilization of high mass fraction extractives during high pressure steaming and lead to the shrinkage of micropores of the PKS fibers. The maximum brealdng strength of steam exploded EFB and PKS were increased by 63% and 45%, respectively. The required compaction energy for the steam exploded EFB pellet is 44.50 J/g while that of the untreated EFB pellet is 30.15 J/g. Similar to Douglas fir, the required extrusion energy for the steam exploded EFB pellet was about 6 times than that of the untreated EFB pellet. The increased extrusion energy is mainly contributed by the increase in mono-saccharides by auto-hydrolysis during steam explosion pretreatment.},
doi = {10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.12.029},
journal = {Applied Energy},
number = C,
volume = 141,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jan 03 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Sat Jan 03 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}

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Cited by: 36 works
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Torrefaction of densified empty fruit bunches with addition of plastics waste
journal, April 2018

  • Hanaffi Mohd Fuad, Muhammad Ariff; Faizal, Hasan Mohd; Rahman, Mohd Rosdzimin Abdul
  • Biofuels, Vol. 11, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1080/17597269.2018.1457312

Research Progress of Energy Utilization of Agricultural Waste in China: Bibliometric Analysis by Citespace
journal, January 2020

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Densification of Agricultural Wastes and Forest Residues: A Review on Influential Parameters and Treatments
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Steam Explosion of Beech Wood: Effect of the Particle Size on the Xylans Recovery
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Bio-Pellet Fuel from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB): Using European Standards for Quality Testing
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