Utilization of oil palm empty fruit bunches biomass through slow pyrolysis process

Abstract

The agricultural sector produces solid waste biomass abundantly. However, this biomass potential has not been utilized optimally. Indonesia as the world's number one producer of oil palm plantations produces enormous biomass potential. Oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) are the largest solid waste with a fraction of around 20-23% of fresh fruit bunches. Conventionally, it is only used as plant mulch in plantations areas. However, this biomass can still provide added value to bioenergy products through thermochemical pyrolysis conversion. The study was conducted with EFB raw materials that have been chopped with a size of <2mm, heating rate of 10C/minute with temperature variations of 350 C, 400 C, 450 C, 500 C, and 550 C. The results showed that the EFB pyrolysis at low temperatures produced biochar products, and at high temperatures, it produced maximum product in the form of bio-oil. In the EFB pyrolysis process, biochar with an optimum yield of 36.92% was produced at 350 C, and bio-oil with an optimum yield of 46.60% was produced at a temperature of 550 C.