Drying Effect by Combination of Chemical and Microwave Treatment of Oil Palm Trunk

Abstract

Oil palm plantation is one multibillion-dollar commodity crops in Malaysia. All part of palm tree is reusable which no parts will turn into waste. Oil palm trunk has cellulosic structure that is categorised as woody materials. Current issue is the drying process of the oil palm trunk is too long and it can be reduced by chemically and microwave treatment. The treatment densified and compacted the oil palm trunk into other woody elements. The experimental study investigated the chemical treatment by varying dipping time in methanol between 5 to 20 minutes and microwave power input ranges between 40% to 100%. The combination treatment of 80% microwave power and 15 minutes dipping in methanol give the highest moisture reduction. The morphological aspect of palm trunk was investigate using LEO Supra 50 Vp field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) with ultra-high resolution.