Microwave induced pyrolysis of oil palm biomass

Arshad Adam Salema, Farid Nasir Ani

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

267 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to carry out microwave induced pyrolysis of oil palm biomass (shell and fibers) with the help of char as microwave absorber (MA). Rapid heating and yield of microwave pyrolysis products such as bio-oil, char, and gas was found to depend on the ratio of biomass to microwave absorber. Temperature profiles revealed the heating characteristics of the biomass materials which can rapidly heat-up to high temperature within seconds in presence of MA. Some characterization of pyrolysis products was also presented. The advantage of this technique includes substantial reduction in consumption of energy, time and cost in order to produce bio-oil from biomass materials. Large biomass particle size can be used directly in microwave heating, thus saving grinding as well as moisture removal cost. A synergistic effect was found in using MA with oil palm biomass.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3388-3395
Number of pages8
JournalBioresource Technology
Volume102
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bio-oil
  • Microwave
  • Microwave absorber
  • Oil palm biomass
  • Pyrolysis

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