Characterisation Of Sun-Dried Palm Fruit Waste Biomass Materials
Keywords:
palm fruit, waste biomass materials, moisture, drying-scheduling, fuel characteristics, energyAbstract
Palm fruit waste biomass, namely: shell, palm fiber and the empty fruit bunch (EFB) were characterized in this study for proper selection as fuel. Fresh fruit bunches (FFB) were processed to obtain the required waste products. These waste products were sun-dried for 11 days. Fuel properties such as the moisture content, bulk density, ash content, volatile matter, fixed carbon content and the calorific value were determined at interval of 3 days. The results indicate that moisture content has a direct effect on other properties. The moisture content was found to exhibit direct variation with the bulk density and the volatile matter, as they decrease with a decrease in the moisture content. The calorific value, fixed carbon content and the ash content exhibit an indirect variation with the moisture content as they increased with decreasing moisture content. After 11 days of drying, the moisture contents of the shell, fiber and EFB decreased from 31.16-6.58, 49.46-3.32 and 57.37-7.71%, respectively; the bulk densities reduced from 0.31-0.28, 0.15-0.08 and 0.31-0.08 g/cm3, respectively; the ash contents increased from 6.55-12.67, 3.46-8.27 and 5.18-16.46%, respectively; the volatile matter decreased from 81.39-73.59, 87.17-77.15 and 84.60-62.80%, respectively; the fixed carbon contents increased from 12.065-13.747, 9.363-14.58 and 10.22-20.74%, respectively; the calorific values increased from 10.87-14.94, 7.57-16.45 and 5.57-13.99, respectively.
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