• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.629-638
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• 2016

In this study, the effect of inorganic constituents on the physicochemical properties of pyrolytic products produced from empty fruit bunch (EFB) by fast pyrolysis were investigated. Inorganic constituents were removed from the EFB by means of washing treatment with hydrofluoric acid (HF) and distilled water (D.I water). Ash content decreased from 6.2 wt% (EFB) to 2.4 wt% (HF-EFB) and 3.5 wt% (D.I-EFB), respectively. As a result of the inorganic component, a quantity of potassium in EFB has showed the highest removal efficiency in both HF and D.I water (HF: 80.3%, D.I water: 72.8%). Fast pyrolysis was performed with demineralized EFB in the fluidized bed reactor under the temperature of $500^{\circ}C$ at the residence time of 1.3 sec. The yield of bio-oil was determined to 57.3 wt% for HF-EFB and 52.1 wt% for D.I-EFB, respectively. Biochar yield decreased whereas yield of non-condensable gas increased with decreasing inorganic content of EFB. Water content decreased from 26.9% (EFB) to 9.9% (HF-EFB) and viscosity increased from 16.1 cSt (EFB) to 334 cSt (HF-EFB).

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.36-42
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• 2012

The empty fruit bunch fibers(EFB) of oil palm were examined for optimal utilization of the EFB fibers. The EFB fibers were obtained by shredding EFB, followe by removal of fines. The surface properties of the fibers were modified with various pre-treatments, such as hot water extraction, the soaking treatments with NaOH, $ClO_2$ and n-hexane. The changes in the fiber surface were examined with FT-IR method, which showed the changes in chemical compositions such as pectin, lignin, and etc. according to the pre-treatment methods. And the z-directional tensile testing of the fiber mold made of the treated EFB fibers showed the changes in the bonding strength by the pre-treatments. The fiber mold made of EFB fibers treated with $ClO_2$ showed the greater increase in the tensile energy absorption although the NaOH treatment resulted in the severer impact on the EFB fibers.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.507-514
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• 2013

In this study, oxalic acid pretreatment of empty fruit bunch (EFB) was performed at different pretreatment temperatures. Also, we evaluated oxalic acid recovery from hydrolysate by electrodialysis. The fermentable sugar concentration in hydrolysate was high at more than $20g/{\ell}$, when pretreatment was carried out at $150^{\circ}C$. At the same time, ethanol production was $3.78g/{\ell}$ after 72 h which correspond to the ethanol yield of 0.21 g/g. On the other hydrolysate (160, $170^{\circ}C$), fermentable sugar was not consumed by Pichia stipitis during fermentation. Most of the oxalic acid was recovered and some of the fermentation inhibitors were removed by electrodialysis. For the electrodialysis treated hydrolysate, ethanol production was increased compared to the original hydrolysate. The highest ethanol production was $5.38g/{\ell}$ after 24 h which correspond to the yield of 0.33 g/g. The ethanol production by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) under all pretreatment conditions was more than $15g/{\ell}$ after 96 h. The highest ethanol production was $20.54g/{\ell}$, when pretreatment was performed at $170^{\circ}C$. In particular, ethanol production was increased, when electrodialysis treated hydrolysate was used for SSF.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.12-16
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• 2014

This study was carried out to develop the new mushroom cultivation medium for Pleurotus ostreatus using by EFB. Two strains of Pleurotus ostreatus were used for this study and the difference in productivity was observed in each strain. There was not confirmed a mycelial growth inhibition by addition of Empty Fruit Bunch which is palm tree waste. In the productivity test of the mixed medium, In Suhan 1ho, yield of T2 treatment was highest as 90.6 g per bottle, It was 14.9% higher than control. In Kimje variety which is Chunchu strain, Yield of T2 treatment was highest as 139.8 g per bottle. It was 25.2% higher than control. In Kimje variety, as amount of 6mm diameter PEFB pellet is increased in medium, yield of mushroom was decreased. When 8mm diameter EFB was used for 532 medium, yield of both 50% EFB(T3) and 100% EFB (T5) treatment was better than other treatments. Therefore, it is suggested that 8 mm diameter EFB pellet is good material for mushroom cultivation medium and T5 treatment was showed a potential possibility as an alternative medium.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2016

The demand of environmental friendly packaging materials such as pulp mold has been increased. The application of the oil palm biomass, EFB (Empty Fruit Bunch) fiber as natural raw materials to the pulp mold could increase the usability of the pulp mold by the reduced production cost brought from the relatively low cost of EFB. The effects of the EFB(Empty Fruit Bunch) fibers on the properties of pulp mold and on the process efficiency were evaluated in this study. The pulp mold samples were prepared with mixture ONP (Old news paper) and EFB by using laboratory wet pulp molder. The changes in the drying efficiency were measured with the changes in the solid contents of pulp mold samples during drying process. The efficiency of the surface coating treatment on the pulp mold depending on the condition of the pulp mold samples were also evaluated in order to improve the water resistance properties of pulp mold. The addition of EFB increased the drying efficiency by providing the bulkier structure and the higher water contact angle, which indicated the better water resistance properties. The water resistance were improved by the surface coating treatments and the application of surface coating on the pulp mold at the higher moisture contents resulted in the higher improvement in the water resistance. The bulkier structure originated from the application of EFB fiber reduced the effects of the surface coating, which could be overcome by the control of surface coating process.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.231-243
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• 2014

In this study, the potential of biomass, which is generated from oil palm cultivation and crude palm oil (CPO) production of Indonesia was assessed in the aspect of energy content. The types of oil palm biomass were classified on the basis of the cultivation stage and the CPO production stage. In the cultivation stage, biomass is considered to be produced from its' root, trunk and frond. Other possible biomass resources such as empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm kernel shell (PKS) and fiber were included in the CPO production stage. As results, total biomass from damaged plantation area of Indonesia was estimated to be annually from 3 million to 16 million tons in 2011. From CPO mills, approximately 49 million tons/yr of biomass residues were estimated to be annually occurred. Their total energy content from each biomass source in cultivation stage was analyzed to be from 593,000 to 3,197,000 TOEs in terms of gross calorific value. In the case of CPO mills, around 22.7 million TOEs was estimated to be potential energy producible by biomass based on gross calorific value of dry basis. If moisture content considered, net calorific value was analyzed to be decreased to 16.3 million TOEs. Based on the results, the total energy contents of all oil palm biomass were estimated to be up to 25,919,000 TOE in terms of gross calorific value. CPO : Crude Palm Oil, EFB : Empty Fruit Bunch, FFB: Fresh Fruit Bunch, PKS : Palm Kernel Shell, OPF : Oil Palm Frond, PKOC : Palm Kernel Oil Cake, ISPO : Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil Commission, TOE : Tone of Oil Equivalent.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.9-15
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• 2007

A comparative study of the structure and organization of the primary and secondary walls in different types of tropical plant waste fibers was carried out using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The thickness of each layer was also measured using Image Analyzer. TEM micrographs haveconfirmed that cell wall structure of all six types of tropical plant waste fibers (empty fruit bunch, oil palm frond, oil palm trunk, coir, banana stem and pineapple leaf) has the same ultrastructure with wood fibre. The fibers consisted of middle lamella, primary and thick secondary wall with different thickness for different types of fibers. The secondary wall was differentiated into a $S_1$ layer, a unique multi-lamellae $S_2$ layer, and $S_3$ layer.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2013.06a
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• pp.19-20
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• 2013

The cofiring of renewable fuel in coal fired boilers is an attractive option to mitigate $CO_2$ emissions, since it is relatively low cost option for efficiently converting renewable fuel to electricity by adding biomass as partial substitute of coal. However, it would lead to reduce plant efficiency and flexibility in operation, and increase operation cost and capital cost associated with renewable fuels handling and firing equipment. The aim of this study is to investigate reduction of carbon dioxide at varying percentage of biomass in fuel blend to the boiler biomass, and estimate operation and capital cost. Wood pellet, PKS (palm kernel shell), EFB (empty fruit bunch) and sludge are considered as a renewable fuels for a cofiring with coal. Several approaches by the cofiring ratio are chosen from past plant demonstrations and commercial cofiring operation, and they are evaluated and discussed for CO2 reduction and cost estimation.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2013

Organosolv ethanolamine pulping for oil palm empty fruit bunches(EFB) were evaluated in this study. The screen yield by the ethanolamine pulping were higher than that by the soda pulping at the same operation conditions. The higher concentration of ethanolamine solvent resulted in the higher yield and the lower contents of residual lignin. The EFB pulp fibers were the narrower in fiber width but the higher in coarseness than those of the hardwood pulp fiber, while the fiber length of the EFB pulp fiber were similar to that of the hardwood fiber. The intrinsic zero span tensile testing showed the EFB pulp fiber by the 80% ethanolamine pulping were the stronger than the fiber by the soda pulping. The results of this study supported that the ethanolamine pulping could be used as an alternative pulping method for the EFB.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.783-791
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• 2015

A fluidized-bed reactor with an inside diameter of 0.1 m and a height of 1.2 m was used to study the effect of steam and catalyst additions to air-blown biomass gasification on the production of producer gas. The equipment consisted of a fluidized bed reactor, a fuel supply system, a cyclone, a condenser, two receivers, steam generator and gas analyzer. Silica sand with a mean particle diameter of $380{\mu}m$ was used as a bed material and calcined dolomite ($356{\mu}m$), which is effective in tar reduction and producer gas purification, was used as the catalyst. Both of Korea wood pellet (KWP) and a pellet form of EFB (empty fruit bunch) which is the byproduct of Southeast Asia palm oil extraction were examined as biomass feeds. In all the experiments, the feeding rates were 50 g/min for EFB and 38 g/min for KWP, respectively at the reaction temperature of $800^{\circ}C$ and an ER (equivalence ratio) of 0.25. The mixing ratio (0~100 wt%) of catalyst was applied to the bed material. Air or an air-steam mixture was used as the injection gas. The SBR (steam to biomass ratio) was 0.3. The composition, tar content, and lower heating value of the generated producer gas were measured. The addition of calcined dolomite decreased tar content in the producer gas with maximum reduction of 67.3 wt%. The addition of calcined dolomite in the air gasification reduced lower heating value of the producer gas. However The addition of calcined dolomite in the air-steam gasification slightly increased its lower heating value.