Continuous Pyrolysis for Palm Oil Mills

A number of regions have been over-supplied with electricity so it is not possible to add or build new power plants. Making a new plant will only be in vain because the electricity production cannot be utilized or absorbed by the user. Based on this, electricity production in a number of areas must be limited and diversified into other products needed. These other products are products whose needs are still not met. Another thing that can be done is to increase the efficiency of a production process. When the efficiency of a production process is improved and produces the products needed, of course the business benefits increase. Besides that, when all the waste can be processed, it becomes a production unit that is zero waste and environmentally friendly.

Palm oil mills are very numerous in Indonesia and Malaysia, the number reaches more than 1000 units, while Thailand also begins to follow the planting of oil palm. At present some of the palm oil mill effluents have not been processed such as empty palm bunches, palm shells and fronds. The palm oil mill that has been operating can be increased efficiency and the production of by-products that provide additional income. This can be done by using a continuous pyrolysis unit for both electrical and heat energy sources and the production of various by-products in the form of charcoal, biooil and biomass vinegar. The three by-products can be sold or marketed and become an additional income for the palm oil mill which is quite attractive.

Conventional Energy System in Palm Oil Mill

Improved Palm Oil Mill with Continous Pyrolysis System

Palm oil mills also do not need to be bothered with the problem of waste, especially solid waste if everything can be processed and very profitable. Meanwhile, from the environmental aspect of a palm oil mill that is zero waste and environmentally friendly, it is certainly the dream of all the palm oil mill owners. The community and the surrounding environment which is not disturbed by the palm oil mill that is because of its pollution is also a condition desired by the palm oil entrepreneurs. By using the continuous pyrolysis, the air pollution generated is very minimal or far from the required threshold, so that the environment and the surrounding community can be accepted. If the palm oil mills have used continuous pyrolysis, it will also be economically attractive.

Charcoal produced also has many benefits. Technically, charcoal is a stable fuel so it is easy to store and does not decay or is eaten by termites. Charcoal can be used for energy sources directly easily, or converted to other fuels, for example converted into liquid or gas fuel. The condition of fossil fuels, especially petroleum which is increasingly depleted, demands the diversification of energy, such as Indonesia which is predicted to run out of oil in 10 years or in 2028. Likewise, biooil can be used immediately, or upgraded to better fuels, such as vehicle fuel. While biomass vinegar can be used for fertilizer, biopesticides and upgraded to biophenol and wood adhesive.

Entering the Second Generation Biofuel With Pyrolysis

The first generation biofuels are characterized by the production of biodiesel and bioethanol from food feedstock will soon be abandoned, it is because of fears of biofuel feedstock competition with human food needs. Conditions that encourage the birth of a second generation biofuels using biomass (non-food) as a raw material. Pyrolysis is a technology to produce second generation biofuels. The potential of biomass is abundant in Indonesia and on the other side of the energy needs that can not be fulfilled so that the pyrolysis of this application will be very promising.

Industrial-scale pyrolysis technology that can produce biofuels to meet the energy needs of Indonesia's current needs. Our pyrolysis technology has specific advantages that can work on torrefaction mode (mild pyrolysis) with torrefied wood products / torrefied biomass and the pyrolysis mode (slow pyrolysis) with the primary product BioCarbon (charcoal). Both products, wood & BioCarbon torrefied has many uses as a superior fuel and it takes a variety of industries for various applications. In both these processes will also be produced biooil and syngas, which can also be used for fuel or raw material of various chemical industries. To get a more detailed overview of this technology following our presentation or here.

Biochar activity in Southeast Asia Promote The Growth Of Biochar Industry

A variety of literature, research, seminars, training and trials around the world have proved that the biochar or agrichar; charcoal produced from the pyrolysis process provides great benefits for soil fertility so that crop productivity will increase. Japan is one country that is known users biochar to agricultural land for decades. This makes some parts of Southeast Asia are also affected to use biochar to improve soil quality. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the Phillipines are a number of countries in Southeast Asia are trying to apply the biochar.

 

This activity provides an encouraging result because it gives a positive result and reduces pollution because it uses raw material of various types of waste biomass. The hope of this activity continues to increase the use of biochar on a larger scale and more sustainable. Indonesia and Malaysia as the largest CPO producers in the world would require an intensification in the agricultural field to improve soil quality in addition to the energy requirements for CPO and its derivative production processes so that is where the biochar industry using pyrolysis technology will be crucial. Industrial-scale continuous pyrolysis technology is easy to use would be needed for this.

Selection of Pyrolysis Technology to Produce Charcoal from Biomass

Pyrolysis is a thermochemical decomposition of biomass into a range of useful  products, either in the total absence of oxidizing agents or with a limited supply that does not permit gasification to an appreciable extent. It is one of several  reaction steps or zones observed in a gasifier if we use gasification application. During pyrolysis, large complex hydrocarbon molecules of biomass break down into relatively smaller and simpler molecules of gas, liquid, and char.

Pyrolysis has similarity to and some overlap with processes like cracking, devolatilization, carbonization, dry distillation, destructive distillation, and thermolysis, but it has no similarity with the gasification process, which involves chemical reactions with an external agent known as gasification medium. Pyrol-ysis of biomass is typically carried out in a relatively low temperature range of 300 to 650 °C compared to 800 to 1000 °C for gasification. Other review the difference between pyrolysis and gasification, please click here.

The product of pyrolysis depends on the design of the pyrolyzer, the physical and chemical characteristics of the biomass, and important operating parameters such as

-  Heating rate

-  Final temperature (pyrolysis temperature)

-  Residence time in the reaction zone

Besides these, the tar and the yields of other products depend on (1) pressure,  (2) ambient gas composition, and (3) presence of mineral catalysts (Shafizadeh, 1984).

By changing the final temperature and the heating rate, it is possible to change the relative yields of the solid, liquid, and gaseous products of pyrolysis.  Rapid heating yields higher volatiles and more reactive char than produced by  a slower heating process; slower heating rate and longer residence time result in secondary char produced from a reaction between the primary char and the volatiles.

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Type of Pyrolysis

Based on heating rate, pyrolysis may be broadly classified as slow and fast. It is considered slow if the time, theating, required to heat the fuel to the pyrolysis temperature is much longer than the characteristic pyrolysis reaction time,  tr, and vice versa. That is:

-Slow pyrolysis: theating is bigger than tr

-Fast pyrolysis: theating is smaller tr

These criteria may be expressed in terms of heating rate as well, assuming a simple linear heating rate (Tpyr/theating, K/s). The characteristic reaction time, tr, for a single reaction is taken as the reciprocal of the rate constant,  k, evaluated at the pyrolysis temperature (Probstein and Hicks, 2006, p. 63).

There are a few other variants depending on the medium in and pressure at which the pyrolysis is carried out. Given specific operating conditions, each process has its characteristic products and applications. In the following list, the first two types are based on the heating rate while the third is based on the environment or medium in which the pyrolysis is carried out: (1) slow pyrolysis, (2) fast pyrolysis, and (3) hydropyrolysis.

Slow and fast pyrolysis are carried out generally in the absence of a medium.  Two other types are conducted in a specific medium: (1) hydrous pyrolysis (in H2O) and (2) hydropyrolysis (in H2). These types are used mainly for the production of chemicals.

In slow pyrolysis, the residence time of vapor in the pyrolysis zone (vapor residence time) is on the order of minutes or longer. This process is used primarily for char production and is broken down into two types: (1) carbonization and (2) conventional.

In fast pyrolysis, the vapor residence time is on the order of seconds or milliseconds. This type of pyrolysis, used primarily for the production of bio-oil and gas, is of two main types: (1) flash and (2) ultra-rapid. Carbonization produces mainly charcoal; fast pyrolysis processes target production of liquid or  gas.

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Production of charcoal through Pyrolysis

Carbon is a preferred product of biomass pyrolysis at a moderate temperature.  Thermodynamic equilibrium calculation shows that the char yield of most biomass may not exceed 35%. See table below gives the theoretical equilibrium yield of biomass at different temperatures. Assuming that cellulose represents biomass, the stoichiometric equation for production of charcoal (Antal, 2003) may be written as :

 

Charcoal production from biomass requires slow heating for a long duration but at a relatively low temperature of around 400 °C. An extreme example of a pyrolysis or carbonization is in the coke oven in an iron and steel plant, which pyrolyzes (carbonizes) coking coal to produce hard coke used for iron extraction. This is an indirectly pyrolyzer that operates at a temperature exceeding 1000 °C and for a long period of time to maximize gas and solid coke production.

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The best biochar  for improving soil quality (agricultural application) can be produced with slow pyrolysis process, more review on this, please click here.  The best charcoal for activated carbon production also can be produced with this process, more explanation please click here. We can also produce high fixed carbon charcoal with this technology, read more click here. In simple words we will produce charcoal as you wish.

Only With Continuous Pyrolysis, Charcoal Briquette Industry Will Get a Supply Of High Quality Raw Materials

Charcoal briquette plant with a large capacity can only be supplied charcoal produced from continuous pyrolysis technology. The quality of products are standard and stable as well as the quantity of large quantities can only be met when using continuous pyrolysis technology in the process of charcoal production. Charcoal of satisfactory market quality can be made in kilns of any size or type when suitable coaling temperature and time conditions are present. It is perhaps more difficult to produce charcoal of consistently high quality in uninsulated metal kilns because of rapid and large heat loss.

The growing popularity of charcoal briquette has spurred great interest recently because its benefit on specific fuel application. Some information on plant equipment, manufacturing detail and the practicability of briquette production with contionous pyrolysis system to provide a few items of special interest.

Equipment : The equipment required for briquette manufacture is highly specialized. Powered units are required for grinding and mixing dry and wet charcoal, wet forming the briquettes, moving material in the process, and continous drying. Production rates are 1 to 3.5 tons of briquettes per hour. The equipment for both capacities is basically the same, but somewhat larger and heavier machines are needed for 3.5 ton output. Standard equipment for a 1-ton-per-hour briquetting plant includes the following :

-Briquette press with paddle feeder

-Hammer mill

-Charcoal feeder with surge hopper

-Paddle mixer

-Vertical fluxer

-Starch feeder or pump

-Briquette drier

-Boiler, 30 horsepower - - 15 pounds per square inch gage pressure

-Conveyors

-Bagging machine

-Building, 60 feet by 120 feet, with 20 feet clear height.

The labor requirements per shift are eight men, including a foreman, a machine operator, a night-shift maintenance man, a bagger and three men for warehouse and miscellaneous jobs.

Plant processing :-In general , charcoal lump and fines as received or from plant storage are fed by screw conveyor to hammer mill or crusher for feed material of 1/8-inch and smaller screen size. The ground charcoal is moved mechanically or by air to a surge bin for metered flows to the mixer, metered amounts of about 5 percent of binder (potato, corn or cassava starch) with water are added. After agiataion in a paddle mixer, the mixture is run through the fluxer for more throrough working of the mass before it is transferred to the press feeder for regulated flow to the forming press.

From the press, the wet or green briquettes are moved by belt conveyor to a special device for uniform loading and continous passage through the drier. The conditions for the drying are usually a 3-to 4-hour period at a temperature of about 275 F. The processing steps are carried out as shown in figure below.

Because of the large daily charcoal requirements and the investment necessary for even the smallest commercial briquette operation, it is not practical for the smaller kiln operator to undertake such manufacture. Operating the smallest commercial plant at a production rate of about 10 tons of briquette per day would require at least 250 tons of charcoal monthly.  Briquetting plants usually operate on two or three shifts per day for most economical production.

 

Only charcoal plant with level of production above 10 tons/day adequate for charcoal briquette plants need.  JFE project can provide charcoal plant (continous pyrolysis technology)  to meet that needs include high specification (quality) of charcoal requirement if it’s needed.