Why is There No Biochar Production for The Palm Oil Industry Yet?

Even though biomass waste is abundant in the palm oil industry, both in the plantation area and in the palm oil mill area, most of the biomass waste, especially empty fruit bunches or EFB, is still not utilized or is simply piled up or thrown away. In fact, if the palm oil industry has a strong vision about maximizing profits by minimizing the occurrence of waste, especially biomass, and maximizing environmental sustainability as well as being part of the climate solution, then biomass waste, especially empty fruit bunches or EFB, is a big opportunity.  Currently, special department in the palm oil industry that specifically deal with sustainability issues are starting to be created by palm oil companies. Waste management issues including the utilization of EFB, reducing soil and water pollution due to fertilizers and increasing fertilizer efficiency are the concerns of the sustainability department. 

The empty fruit bunches or EFB can be used as fuel so that most or all of the palm kernel shells or PKS can be sold directly and even exported. Palm oil mill boiler fuel currently uses fuel in the form of palm fiber (mesocarp fiber) and some palm kernel shells / PKS, which can be replaced using empty fruit bunches (EFB) and palm fiber (mesocarp fiber) and without palm kernel shells / PKS. Palm kernel shells / PKS are a very popular biomass fuel in the global market that competes fiercely with wood pellets. By being able to sell all palm kernel shells / PKS and at the same time utilize empty fruit bunch / EFB waste, the palm oil industry will provide many economic benefits.

The use of empty fruit bunches / EFB and mesocarp fiber as a heat source for the boiler is not burned as usual or as is done by all palm oil mills today but must be gasified or pyrolyzed so that another product is produced in the form of biochar. Although gasification can be used to produce biochar, pyrolysis is more recommended because the quality and quantity of biochar will be better. The biochar can later be used for the palm oil plantation itself. The use of biochar in palm oil plantations will significantly save on fertilizer use as well as reducing water and soil pollution due to inefficient use of fertilizer. The biggest cost in operating a palm oil plantation is fertilizer, so by using biochar these operational costs can automatically be reduced. Biochar will become a slow release agent so that fertilizer use will be more efficient or increase NUE (Nutrients Use Efficiency).

Empty fruit bunches / EFB and mesocarp fiber are solid waste from palm oil mills so the waste is located around the palm oil mill, while biochar is used for palm oil plantations. In palm oil companies, management is generally separated between the plantation and mill departments. The use of biochar in palm oil plantations while the raw material comes from palm oil mills requires special arrangements regarding this matter. This could be, for example, trucks transporting fresh fruit bunch / FFB from the plantation to the palm oil mill, then after the FFB is unloaded at the mill, they then go to the plantation again carrying biochar from the palm oil mill.

Currently, no one is utilizing empty fruit bunches / EFB and palm mesocarp fiber as a source of boiler heat and biochar production. The main factor causing this is the main orientation or vision of the palm oil company itself as described above. This is predicted to change soon as awareness of climate issues increases and reaches all levels, especially in sectors related to energy and sustainibility. Moreover, when biochar is applied to plantation land, it also gets carbon credit as carbon sequestration. The smoke coming out of the boiler furnace will also be cleaner as seen from its opacity. The use of gas and liquid fuels from pyrolysis by-products will produce better combustion quality as well as smoke from the chimney. And even the liquid products from pyrolysis can also be used as biopesticides and organic fertilizers. Boiler efficiency will also increase because it uses boiler feed water (BFW) in the form of hot water from the condenser output of the pyrolysis unit.

Apart from old palm oil mills which really want to upgrade their industrial energy systems and fertilizer efficiency in their plantations including sustaibility according to this vision, new palm oil mills whose status is in the development stage should be able to apply this concept more easily. New palm oil mills can immediately follow developments and demands of the times so that they become trend setters with this vision. Being a pioneer and trend setter is indeed more difficult and even risky than just being a follower, but this will raise the reputation and become a leader in the industry so it should also have a positive impact on the company's business performance. A worthy effort.     

Biochar as a Solution to Deforestation in Indonesian Palm Oil Plantations

Palm oil trees are not native to Indonesia but come from West Africa and were brought by the Dutch colonialists in the mid 19th century. At first they brought 4 grains and planted them in the Bogor Botanical Garden which is now a palm oil monument. The first palm oil plantation were established in Indonesia in the early 1900's in North Sumatra. The development of the palm oil industry and its subsequent plantations is very rapid, especially in the last 10 years and it is currently estimated that the area of Indonesian palm oil plantations reaches 15 million hectares. As the largest vegetable oil-producing plant in the world and the area of palm oil plantations is also the largest in the world, of course, palm oil has a strategic value in the Indonesian economy. The average rate of growth for Indonesian palm oil plantations is 6.5% per year or the equivalent of about 500 thousands up to 1 million hectares per year for the last 5 years, while the increase in palm oil fruit production or FFB (fresh fruit bunches) is only 11% in average. In fact, the largest increase occurred in 2017 which increased by 2.8 million hectares. From 2015 to 2019, the total area of palm oil increased by 3.7 million hectares. Extensification or expansion of palm oil plantations turned out to be many "accused" and became the world's spotlight as from the conversion of forest land functions, so that there was a lot of deforestation to be converted into palm oil plantations.

Pressure from the European Union in particular, due to these conditions worsened the image of Indonesian palm oil which in turn affected the selling price of palm oil, both CPO (crude palm oil) and its derivative products. Improving the image is also not easy. One of the effective measures is to stop the extensification effort so that forest land remains as forest land and does not turn into palm oil plantations. Biochar can be an effective solution to this problem. By increasing the productivity of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from the usage of biochar, new palm oil plantations do not need to be opened again. Assuming an average productivity increase of 20% occurs, CPO production will also increase by 20% or equivalent to 2 million tons. The increase would be equivalent to new land clearing of more than 2 million hectares. Certainly not a small land area. With the 20% increase in production, it is very likely that the national needs for CPO needs have been met and the same goes for the export market.

With the extensification of palm oil land of more than 1 million per hectare every year but the increase in palm oil fruit (FFB/fresh fruit bunch) production is only 11%, it is certainly less attractive and must be avoided, especially when the world's attention on deforestation is getting stronger. This also indicates the low productivity of the palm oil plantations. In fact, by improving soil quality, the productivity of palm oil fruit can be significantly increased and the clearing of new land for palm oil plantations can be avoided. Biomass wastes in palm oil plantations and in palm oil mills can be used for the production of biochar.

In palm oil mills, this biomass waste is easier to process in large quantities, especially empty fruit bunches (EFB). An average palm oil mill can produce 200 tons of waste per day of EFB. Meanwhile, in palm oil plantations, biomass waste, such as palm fronds, leaves and stems, is the raw material for the production of biochar. Palm oil trunks even have a lot of negative impacts when they are not treated adequately or are only left to rot in the plantation, giving rise to horn beetle pests, for more details read here. Optimizing the utilization of biomass waste has multiple benefits, not only preventing environmental pollution by the waste, and can be described as the scheme below.

In terms of technology, biochar production technology is also very varied, from simple technology (low tech, low cost) that is cheap to advanced high technology that is efficient, precise process control but at a higher price. In the palm oil mill, it will be effective to use high technology so that it can be integrated with the operations of the palm oil mill. The excess energy from the pyrolysis process will also replace boiler fuel which has been using fiber and palm kernel shells (PKS). There are indeed many advantages of palm oil mills when doing the production of biochar, for more details, please read here. Production of biochar with empty fruit bunches or EFB biochar is also more profitable than EFB pellets, a more detailed explanation can be read here. Meanwhile, for people who have palm oil plantations as part of society palm oil producers (Plasma) or independent plantations, they can use simple technology (low tech, low cost) for the production of biochar. Biochar production in a simple way can also take advantage of excess energy for various small business activities such as those carried out in Tanzania, Africa. In this way, the community in addition to producing biochar also gets a source of energy including reducing the use of firewood which can be obtained from cutting down trees in protected forests or reducing deforestation pressures.

Fertilizer is the highest cost component in the palm oil plantation operations. Besides being able to increase the productivity of palm oil fruit or FFB, Biochar can also reduce the need for the use of fertilizers. An increase in soil pH makes nutrients easily absorbed by palm oil trees and also increases soil microbial activity which increases fertility is one of the benefits of using biochar. And when the performance of the productivity level of palm oil plantations has been able to be achieved and maintained, a number of other improvements can also be made. From the industry point of view, raw materials are a vital factor in terms of availability, continuity of supply and quality, including palm oil mills. Moreover, the plantation aspect of CPO production holds a portion of 80% while the factory or the mill aspect is only 20%. This confirms that the plantation aspect plays a vital role in the supply of these raw materials, so that efforts to maximize productivity, including maintaining productivity level performance, are very important and a top priority. Meanwhile, the change in palm oil plantations from monoculture to polyculture (mixed plantation) is one of the further improvement that can be made. Extensive monoculture plantations have the potential to be susceptible to disease, so they need to be avoided. Technically, how much monoculture area is still effective, especially for palm oil plantations, there are no convincing findings. 

Benefits of Palm Oil Company When Produce Biochar

There are at least four things that become motivation for biochar production, namely as in the chart above. There are a number of slices that make the impact of biochar application multi-benefits, which is very much in line with today's world problems, namely climate change and global warming. Biochar has also been accepted as an instrument to reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere which causes the two big problems above, namely in 2018 biochar was included in the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as one of the negative emissions technologies (NETs). Biochar application is a carbon negative scenario because biochar can absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. This is slightly different from the use of biomass fuels such as wood pellets, wood briquette and palm kernel shell (PKS) in industrial boilers or power plants, which are carbon neutral scenarios. Indeed, basically there are 3 big scenarios to reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, namely increasing the efficiency of equipment that uses fossil fuels, using carbon neutral fuels and carbon negative scenarios such as biochar.

Palm oil trees are known to require a lot of water and fertilizer to maintain the life sustainability and productivity of their fruit, so practical efforts in the form of increasing fertilizer nutrient efficiency and increasing fruit productivity are important. Besides that, palm oil mills produce a lot of biomass waste, especially empty fruit bunches (EFB ) and mesocarp fiber, which are very potential for biochar raw materials. The biochar is then applied in palm oil plantations which can be used with chemical fertilizers or with compost / organic fertilizers.

Pyrolysis and gasification technologies are commonly used for the production of the biochar. Apart from producing biochar by pyrolysis or gasification, energy is also produced which can be used for the business development of the palm oil industry or for electricity production. Production of PKO (Palm kernel oil) from kernel processing at KCP (kernel crushing plant) or production of torrefied PKS from PKS processing with torrefaction can be done by utilizing excess energy from the production of biochar. Most of the palm oil mills or CPO mills do not have kernel processing or KCP to produce PKO. And by making torrefied PKS, the caloric value of PKS will increase, it is easy to downsizing (increased grindability), for example in the use of cofiring and does not absorb water (hydrophobic property). In general, palm oil mills will have many advantages, both economically / financially and environmentally, with this biochar production.

Apart from being used for business development like the diagram above, excess energy from pyrolysis or gasification can also be used as boiler fuel in the palm oil mill. In this way the energy to heat the boiler, which is usually with palm kernel shell and mesocarp fiber, can be replaced by energy from pyrolysis or gasification. After that, all of the palm kernel shells / PKS can be sold or exported, thus providing additional profits for the palm oil company. The need for biomass fuel, especially palm kernel shell / PKS, is predicted to increase, both in the domestic market and in the export market. Japan is currently the largest consumer or user of palm kernel shells and it is predicted that the demand will also increase. Japan will also impose stricter standards on imports of palm kernel shells to ensure environmental sustainability by applying the GGL (Green Gold Label) certification which will be effective starting April 2023. This is like the wood pellets with FSC certification. If anyone is interested in an economic analysis of the use of biochar in palm oil business, please contact us.  

Biochar to Increase Biogas Production

Charcoal (biochar) is the raw material for the production of activated carbon. The production of activated charcoal itself goes through two main processes, namely carbonization (pyrolysis) and activation. The surface area of charcoal (biochar) is also smaller than that of activated carbon, but larger than the raw biomass. The carbonization process increases the surface area of the raw biomass. The ratio of surface area between raw biomass, charcoal and activated charcoal is approximately 25 m2 / gram, 200 m2 / gram, 2000 m2 / gram. The larger the surface area of the biomass material that is inserted into the biogas reactor, the greater the penetration of bacteria into the substrate so that the fermentation process that occurs is more perfect so that biogas production will increase. Biochar itself does not participate in fermentation because the main component is stable carbon, while hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin have been decomposed during the carbonization process.

Another example is the addition of biomass briquettes to the biogas reactor, briquetting processs with high pressure and heat also open pores or expand the surface of the biomass, so that biogas production also increases, for more details, read here. The addition of biomass briquettes to the biogas reactor will also increase the C / N ratio, even biochar and activated charcoal have high carbon (C) content.

Charcoal (biochar) has been widely used in the agricultural world to repair damaged soil / soil amendment and thus increase fertility. Good soil fertility will also increase agricultural production. The biochar becomes a home for soil microbes, so that organic materials or compost will break down more completely and be absorbed by plants more as plant nutrients. The charcoal (biochar) pores are the home for these microbes. The more pores, the more microbes will inhabit the biochar as their “house”. The same principle applies to the biogas unit. Another bonus of using biochar is that it absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, thereby contributing to lowering the greenhouse gases that cause climate change and global warming.

Research in Germany shows that adding 5% biochar to a biogas reactor increases methane production by 5% - based on the dry matter of biochar to the substrate. But when the amount of biochar became 10%, it turned out that no more methane was added. This shows that the optimum condition for adding biochar is the amount of 5%. The microbes in the biochar increase the volume of microbes in the reactor so that the production of biogas or especially methane also increases up to 5%. Biochar itself is not decomposed in the fermentation process. 

Meanwhile, the addition of biomass briquettes per 1 tonne of briquettes will increase biogas production by 400 Nm3. This is because in the biomass briquettes, both cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin have not been decomposed, thus adding to the substrate in the biogas reactor. Whereas in biochar, both cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin have been decomposed during the thermal carbonization process, so there is practically no additional substrate, but only microbial addition occurs in the biochar pores.

The important thing about the addition of biochar is that the compost or digestate produced is of better quality with the addition of the biochar. Biochar will make the compost which is produced as a slow release organic fertilizer. This further encourages biochar production, especially for palm oil companies that care about environmental issues and even strive for zero waste conditions.

 Palm oil mills have the potential to apply biogas and biochar units. Solid wastes such as empty bunches and mesocarp fiber can be used for biochar production. Palm oil mills can even replace the furnace in the boiler with a gasifier or pyrolyser. This becomes more profitable because in addition to heat energy being used for production of steam which is used for power generation and sterilization of fresh fruit, biochar will also be produced. The biochar produced is then used to increase biogas production and improve the quality of the compost, as well as a fertilizer mixture in palm oil plantations. And even the potential use of biochar to save fertilizer on large palm oil plantations, for more details can be read here.     

Fertilizer Savings in Palm Oil Plantations with Biochar and Compost from Biogas Waste

Although Indonesia is the largest CPO producer in the world with an area of ​​approximately 13 million hectares of palm oil plantations, but it is estimated that less than 10% have a biogas facility from POME (Palm oil mill effluent). Whereas by utilizing POME for biogas production, besides being able to be converted into electricity or heat, it also produces organic fertilizer in the form of compost and liquid organic fertilizer. The compost can be used as fertilizer in oil palm plantations, where the cost of fertilizer for palm oil operations is the highest cost component. It is estimated that every 10,000 hectares costs approximately Rp. 35.75 billion (around US$ 2.25 million) for fertilizer and for more details, you can read here. The use of compost will certainly reduce the need for fertilizer.

Palm oil utilization scheme for optimizing CPO production

Besides that, solid wastes such as palm oil empty fruit bunch, fiber and palm oil frond are also very potential for the production of energy (electricity and heat) and biochar. Energy production in the form of electricity and heat is by burning pyrolysis byproducts in the form of syngas and biooil into the furnace to heat the boiler. And because the syngas and liquid fuels used in the furnace, so that the combustion process is more perfect and clean emissions. Steam generated from the boiler will then drive the steam turbine and generator so as to produce electricity. Low pressure steam from steam turbine is then used for sterilization or boiling the fresh fruit bunches (FFB). While biochar will be used together with compost and chemical fertilizers to make fertilizer effective in the palm oil plantations so that it becomes a slow release fertilizer. Costs for fertilization are also expected to be significantly reduced, for example by up to 50% by this way. Although biochar is not a fertilizer, it has a function that makes fertilizer use effectively because it holds fertilizer nutrients from leaching, for example from rain water, also maintains moisture and so on.

PKS loading for export in Indonesia

PKS (palm kernel shell) can even be sold or exported. This is because previously or in general the palm kernel shells used to fuel boilers with fiber, have been substituted with products from the pyrolysis process namely syngas and biooil. The need for palm kernel shells for both the domestic / local and export markets continues to increase all the time. Palm kernel shells / PKS are environmentally friendly fuels because they come from biomass so they are carbon neutral fuels. The use of PKS as a fuel is widely used by a number of industries starting as a heat source for the drying process such as spray dryers in detergent and ceramic plants, boilers in food industries such as soy sauce factory, to power plants such as in Japan, can be read in more detail here. In the world of biomass fuel commodity trading, especially in the international market, PKS is the main competitor of wood pellets. Although the specifications are not much different, the price of PKS is also cheaper because it comes from palm oil mill waste and does not need complex processing units such as wood pellets. And basically with the scheme of utilizing palm oil mill wastes as above, it will maximize the profit from the palm oil mill or CPO mill.

Energy Independent With Pyrolysis

A community even in remote areas can be energy independent as long as there is an energy source in the area. Biomass energy sources from plants are energy sources that can be obtained almost anywhere. The plant can be planted as a source of raw materials for the production of energy needed. Heat and electricity energy is energy that mostly needed, in addition to energy or fuel for vehicles as a means of transportation. Heat energy is mainly needed for cooking while electrical energy for various purposes in life. Pyrolysis is a technology that can meet the energy needs as above. The diagram below explains the application of pyrolysis to meet these energy needs:

Charcoal is a solid fuel product from pyrolysis. Although solid fuels such as charcoal, are not as practical and easy as gas fuels, the use of charcoal for cooking fuel has many advantages including being safe because it will not explode, smokeless, odorless, has a high calorific value and is an environmentally friendly fuel. While firewood in addition to causing a lot of smoke, smell, low calorie value also interfere with health. Today there are also many countries in Africa that use charcoal for cooking fuel. To make it easier to use and store, the charcoal can be made into briquettes. While fuel for vehicles such as diesel oil and gasoline can be produced from biooil. Vehicles for transportation can operate in the presence of these fuels. The availability of petroleum in Indonesia, which is estimated to be 10 years away, needs to be anticipated and prepared from now on. The current low price of petroleum makes petroleum exports less attractive, especially for Indonesia, which is currently a net importer of petroleum.

Charcoal stoves are widely used in Africa

In the future era when electric vehicles are widely used, electricity production especially for battery charging is prioritized. The energy source for electric cars as environmentally friendly vehicles should also be from renewable energy sources, for more details, please read here. Biomass is a carbon neutral energy source so it does not increase the concentration of CO2 or greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Woody biomass from the energy plantation is the ideal raw material for the pyrolysis feed. Multipurpose energy plantations are the best energy plantation for this, so that in addition to sustainable production, it also provides other benefits, for more details about multipurpose energy plantations can be read here. Remote areas, especially those with large lands, will have the potential to develop these energy plantations, so that an energy independent community or region can truly be formed and sustainable. Areas in surrounding the palm oil plantations can also utilize biomass waste from palm oil mills and plantations such as palm oil empty fruit bunches (EFB), fronds, etc. for the pyrolysis feed. Indonesia is the owner of the largest palm oil plantation in the world with an area of ​​around 13 million hectares and 1,000 palm oil mills. 

Business Model Utilization of Palm Oil Empty Fruit Bunches to Maximize the Profit of the Palm Oil Industry

Palm oil empty fruit bunches  (EFB) are still a problem for the palm oil mills in general. The scenario of utilizing palm oil EFB as the goal should be able to cope well with the environment and provide economic benefits. Overcoming environmental problems is clearly a top priority and must be met, but the best use of EFB scenarios should also benefit the environment, both short term and even long term. Likewise for economic benefits, economic benefits should also be obtained in line with these environmental benefits, not counterproductive. That is the best scenario for the use of palm oil EFB, which is currently still a problem.

Palm oil plantations are the production base for palm oil mills, both CPO mills and PKO mills. Without the palm fruit produced from the palm oil plantation, the palm oil mill will not be able to produce. Operation of palm oil plantations is indeed not an easy and expensive thing. This is mainly a factor of the large usage fertilizer demand, so as to reach around 60% for the operation of the palm oil plantations themselves or with an area of ​​20,000 hectares of palm oil plantations, the cost needs reach more than 70 billion rupiahs ( (around US$ 4,766,667), for more details, please read here. The factor to reduce the cost of fertilizer and maintain the productivity of palm oil fruits or fresh fruit bunches and even increase them is the main target for the utilization or processing of palm oil  EFB. If the cost of palm oil plantation operations can be reduced, the greater the benefits. Biochar is a palm oil EFB processing product that can be used to reduce fertilizer requirements in the palm oil plantation. Biochar production using pyrolysis as shown below.

 

In the process of pyrolysis, besides producing the main product in the form of biochar, then biooil and syngas are also produced. The biooil and syngas are then used as fuel generator to produce electricity. In palm oil mills or CPO mills, fiber waste is also commonly found. The fiber waste is often just piled up and never utilized so it tends to pollute the environment. Though these fibers can be made pellets for export and become fuel for power plants. In addition, currently millions of hectares of old palm oil plantations in Indonesia need to be immediately replanting. Millions of tons of old oil palm trunks are also potential for pellet production. If old oil palm trunks are only left in the plantation so they rot and decay, then it will become lava media and subsequently become a beetle which actually disrupts productive palm oil plantations as well as other plantations, for more details read here. The production of pellets from fiber or palm trunks requires electricity and this can be supplied from the pyrolysis of palm oil EFB like the scheme above. Although palm oil mills also produce electricity, but generally only for the purpose of CPO production, so it is not enough for the production of fiber pellets and oil palm trunk pellets (OPT pellets).

Which is Better, Efficient Boiler or Pyrolysis System ?

Fiber and palm kernel shells (PKS) are palm oil mill solid wastes that are produced in CPO production in that mill. The amount of fiber and PKS waste is quite a lot, which is around 20% of each fresh fruit bunch (FFB) or almost the same as the CPO produced. A palm oil mill with a capacity of 60 tons / hour FFB can produce fiber as much as 8.1 tons per hour or 194.4 tons per day and PKS of 3.3 tons / hour per hour or 79.2 tons per day. And because both of them are waste, generally the utilization of the waste is not initially considered, including for use as fuel in boilers in palm oil mills for the production of electricity and steam. The use of fiber and PKS for boiler fuel generally uses 100% fiber and about 30% of the PKS. Under these conditions the remaining 70% of the PKS can be used for other things including being sold or even exported.

When the shell becomes a commercial commodity and demand is greater, palm oil mills replace their old inefficient boilers with new boilers that have a high level of efficiency. In this way, 100% of the PKS is no longer used to boiler fuel and only requires fiber as fuel. In this condition a paradigm shift in thinking begins to occur, that is when the solid waste is almost unnoticed and tends to be considered a problem, then it becomes an important part of earning additional income and it can even be estimated that if the shell is successfully sold then it is sufficient to cover the operational costs of the palm oil mill. Certainly something interesting if the production of CPO (crude palm oil) with 0% operational costs so that profit is increasingly attractive especially amid the recent decline in CPO prices.

Another thing that can be done is to use a pyrolysis unit, to run the boiler. With pyrolysis, not only fiber is used but also the empty fruit bunch (EFB). EFB are solid palm oil mill waste which to date have generally not been utilized. Besides producing energy, pyrolysis also produces products in the form of charcoal (biochar). Although charcoal (biochar) can also be used for energy sources, but in the business of palm oil companies the use of biochar for plantations can be more compatible. The use of biochar in palm oil plantations is mainly to  fertilizer saving, which is one of the major cost components (around 30%) in the CPO production business. With an area of ​​20 thousand hectares of oil palm plantations, fertilizer costs are estimated to reach Rp. 71.50 billion (around US$ 5 million) per year or Rp. 35.75 billion (around US$ 2.5 million) per year for every 10,000 hectares, for more details, please read here. Palm oil mills with big vision certainly try to maximize their potential with the aim of maximizing profits from upstream to downstream production activities. With Biochar can also target the increase in productivity of FFB, for more details, please read here.

The application of biochar will be easier to do in Indonesia than in Malaysia, this is because almost all palm oil mills in Indonesia also have palm oil plantations while in Malaysia the mills generally do not have their own palm oil plantations. The palm oil industry also has an important role for the two countries because Indonesia and Malaysia are the largest CPO producers and owners of biggest palm oil plantations in the world today. The palm oil industry contributes around 7% of Malaysian GDP and 3% of Indonesian GDP, so its role cannot be ignored. Both with pyrolysis and high efficient boilers, biomass waste can be used as an energy source and 100% of the PKS can be commercialized, but with pyrolysis is better because waste of EFB can also be processed, there are biochar product (while only ash if only with regular combustion) for Fertilizers saving in the palm oil plantations and the exhaust gases from the palm oil mill boilers are also clean because they burn gas (syngas) produced from the pyrolysis process.

Owls, Cobra Snakes or Liquid Smoke to Repel Mice at Palm Oil Plantations?

Mice are animals that disrupt various human activities so they must be expelled or killed. Many stories from farmers who experienced crop failure due to rampant rat pests. Likewise in palm oil plantations, rats will damage the palm fruit. Biological countermeasures are mostly carried out, namely with owls and cobra snakes. While other efforts that can be done is by liquid smoke. Aside from being used for fertilizer, liquid smoke can also be used to repel these mice. A strong aroma and an acidic nature will make the mice away from the palm oil trees that have been given liquid smoke. The longer the effect of liquid smoke on the palm oil tree the longer the mice away from the palm tree.

Liquid smoke does not harm humans and can be produced in large quantities. Besides that liquid smoke also comes from biomass (pyrolysis) so that it is an environmentally friendly chemical and from renewable sources. Empty bunches or EFB which have generally not been utilized by palm oil mills can be used for the production of liquid smoke. In addition to liquid smoke, biochar is also produced which is also very useful in the palm oil plantations, for more details, please read here. Production of liquid smoke and biochar from EFB will also be a solution to handling solid waste in the form of empty bunches. The production of biochar and liquid smoke for large scale can be done only with continuous pyrolysis units, for more details, please read here.

While when biochar and liquid smoke are used in oil palm plantations, the pyrolysis product in the form of syngas and biooil can be used for boiler fuel. When syngas and biooil are used as fuel, palm kernel shells and a number of mesocarp fibers can be sold or exported like CPO. PKS (palm kernel shell) or shell can be exported directly to Japan or Korea. Whereas mesocarp fiber can be made pellets or briquettes before being exported. Production of pellets or briquettes from mesocarp fiber is almost the same as the production of wood pellets or sawdust briquettes, for reference can be read here and here.

Back to the laptop. So the production of liquid smoke from pyrolysis of empty palm bunches is more likely to be a solution to overcome rat pests in addition to various other advantages for palm oil plantations and mills. In addition, liquid smoke can also be used for fertilizers and is not harmful. Even to optimize the control of rodent pests is very possible with a combination of liquid smoke with owls and cobra snakes.

EFB Biochar and Fertilizer Savings in Palm Oil Plantations

High palm oil plantation productivity and high oil yield has always been a goal in the palm oil business. The nutrient estimates needed to produce 25 tons of FFB / ha / year were 192 N, 11 P, 209 K, 36 Mg, and 71 Ca in kg / ha / year. With the production of 25 tons of FFB / ha / year palm oil or CPO crude will produce around 6.5 tons (25% of FFB). Analogy in the field of animal husbandry where the feed component holds 75% of production costs or is the highest cost component, as well as fertilizer, especially in palm oil plantations. Fertilizer is the most expensive cost or 60% of total maintenance costs. To achieve this productivity, the calculation practically of the need is more or less as follows: an afdeling with an area of ​​1,000 hectares with 1 hectare consisting of 143 trees, so there are 143,000 trees of palm oil. If the dose per tree is 2.5 kg, then the fertilizer needs are 357,500 kg (357.5 tons), with the price of non-subsidized chemical fertilizers for example Rp 10,000 / kg, the cost incurred is 3,575,000,000 (Rp. 3,575 billion or US$ 238,333). If an area of ​​10,000 hectares means fertilizer needs of Rp. 35.75 billion (US$ 2,383,33), whereas if the oil palm plantation is 20,000 hectares, it will reach Rp. 71.50 billion (US$ 4,766,667). Of course an amount that is not small.

The question is what efforts can be made to reduce fertilizer costs but increase palm productivity. One contradictory thing seems to be because it reduces the supply of fertilizer but expects high productivity. This is where we need to examine and explore the facts that occur in the field. With a tropical climate and high rainfall, it makes large leached fertilizers. A condition, for example in hilly and bumpy areas, when the rain falls, the fertilizer that is washed is very large, even in vain fertilization is done because it is not absorbed by the palm trees as the target. The high level of leaching from the use of fertilizers by rainwater makes only available a small amount of available fertilizer in real terms or a number of analyzes said averaging only 50%. With the available fertilizers there are only a few that are also automatically absorbed by the palm trees. When for example washing (leaching) can be reduced by only 30%, it means that the fertilizer that is still available becomes 70%, so that the fertilizer is absorbed more and more and the productivity of the palm oil fruit also increases.

The initial stage that can be done is the cost of the same fertilizer but the productivity of the palm oil fruit can increase up to for example 30%. Furthermore, if this can be achieved, fertilizer consumption will be reduced for example up to 30% but palm oil productivity can be maintained at that level. This is possible when biochar has become a microbial colony and the quality of the soil increases so that uptake of fertilizer is maximal. Biochar is one of the media that can be used for this. An empty fruit bunch that is widely available in palm oil mills and is generally not utilized as a raw material for biochar production. A palm oil mill with a production capacity of 60 tons / hour FFB will produce EFB 13.2 tons / hour so that if the palm oil mill operates 20 hours / day the EFB produced 264 tons / day. The production of biochar with pyrolysis can also produce liquid smoke which can also be used as fertilizer.

Why can biochar be used to increase palm oil productivity and even reduce fertilizer consumption? This is because biochar with its pores with a surface area of ​​about 200 m2 / gram can hold the fertilizer from washing, maintain moisture and many soil microbes that can live in these pores thus improving the physical and chemical properties of the soil. Biochar can last up to hundreds of years in the soil so it does not need to be added every year when the amount is sufficient. Biochar implementation can be started from small scale to massive scale. To process empty fruit bunches (EFB)  in the palm oil mill into biochar, a continuous pyrolysis equiment is needed, to be more clearly read here. To monitor the effectiveness of biochar on oil palm plantations today can use internet technology or IoT (Internet of Things) and for more details can be read here and here.

Once Paddle 2 - 3 Islands Surpassed: Overcoming The Problem Of Palm Oil Mill Solid Waste As Well As Charcoal Production As Soil Fertilizers To Plantation And Export Commodities

There are 3 types of solid waste in palm oil mill, namely fiber, palm kernel shell and empty fruit bunch. The average amount of the three waste : 13.5% fiber, 5.5% palm kernel shell (PKS) and 23% EFB. The greater the CPO production capacity or the processing of FFB the greater the waste produced. Fiber and shell are commonly used for fuel by being burned directly for electricity production and steam for the production process of palm oil mill or CPO production. But with this way there is not much to gain except electricity, steam and ash as its residue. While a more beneficial way that is by replacing the usual combustion system (direct combustion) for steam and electricity production with continuous pyrolysis. Why with continuous pyrolysis can give greater benefits ? That is because with continuous pyrolysis besides being able to produce electricity and steam as well as on regular combustion also produced charcoal. Charcoal can be used for soil fertilizer media in palm oil plantation itself and as an export commodity that is palm kernel shell (read the problem of palm kernel shell at this time here).

While EFB can be processed into compost or fuel such as pellets and briquettes, some even use EFB to make paper, or just taken the ashes with burned because it is rich in potassium. Continuous composting is also more efficient, faster and cleaner than composting in batches. The compost can then be used in conjunction with charcoal so that its use to improve soil fertility optimally. Burning the EFB for its potassium-rich ashes is pretty much done by today's palm oil mills. It is chosen because it is easy, cheap and fast. But for use as fuel there is another option that is to make it into pellets or briquettes. One of the EFB processing scenarios can be read here. The choice of EFB processing above depends on the vision of the palm oil company itself, if its vision is more to increase productivity of palm oil plantation and CPO production even to organic plantation then composting is more suitable to choose, moreover EFB also very wet when out of palm oil mill. Whereas if their vision to get more profit or additional income faster by processing it into energy or fuel such as pellets and briquettes would be more suitable.

Why is charcoal preferred for soil fertility improvement? Is charcoal better than burning ash in that case? The process of making charcoal through the process of pyrolysis or carbonization with temperatures ranging from 400-500 C so that a number of ash chemical compounds, such as potassium still in the solid product in the form of charcoal or not lost during the conversion process, so that can still be used for plant nutrition. Charcoal also has a lot of micro pores to hold soil moisture, microbial house and keep the nutrients or fertilizer because the plants washed out ( leaching) due to the flow of water like rain. Rainfall in Indonesia is quite high ie 2700 mm / year or three times higher than the world rainfall ranging around 900 mm / year. Only two of our neighbors are Malaysia (2,875 mm) and Papua New Guinea (3,140) whose rainfall surpasses Indonesia. Charcoal also makes fertilizer or nutrient plants release slowly (slow release fertilizer) to be absorbed by plants. More and more use of charcoal in the palm oil plantation will have a positive impact on the productivity of Palm oil. If every hectare of palm oil plantations requires 20 tons of charcoal then the need for charcoal is also great. We take the example with the area of ​​100,000 hectares of palm oil plantation then the overall need for palm oil plantation reaches 2,000,000 tons. This can only be done gradually as CPO production activities. A number of studies have even stated that with the use of charcoal, the need for fertilizer can be reduced or saved up to 50%. That's because with the use of charcoal, the washed water plant nutrient in the soil can be minimized. Of course a happy thing. Moreover, the charcoal will survive hundreds of years on the ground so that the benefits last long. Such characteristics make charcoal superior to ash. Ash with various ash-chemical compounds such as potassium can be directly absorbed by plants so that it can be used as fertilizer until the nutrients in the ash are exhausted. Therefore conversion of solid waste from palm oil mill to charcoal is preferred.

Why choose the process of pyrolysis to process solid waste of palm oil mill ie palm kernel shell and fiber by replacing direct combustion process? Why not choose gasification to process the waste? In the gasification only produced a little charcoal so it is not sufficient. Technically, the palm kernel shell and fiber can be mixed as well as when fed as fuel in direct combustion, then fed to pyrolyser or carboniser, then charcoal is separated, ie charcoal from fiber and charcoal from palm shells based on material size difference. Small-sized charcoal from fiber like powder so it is suitable and can be directly used for plantations, while the larger-sized palm kernel shell charcoal such as granules. The palm kernel shell charcoal can then be used for fuel or other industrial raw materials such as activated charcoal.

The processing of solid waste of palm oil mill namely, palm kernel shell and fiber will give more benefit if using continuous pyrolysis technology. While EFB can be made compost or solid fuel such as pellets and briquettes. The charcoal applied to the plantation will improve soil fertility, as nutrients are more available and are not easily discharged or washed out due to water flow. There are more than 600 palm oil mills in Indonesia and nearly half of the world's CPO demand is supplied from Indonesia (23 million tons of CPO annually) and palm oil plantation area around 9 million hectares, so efforts to maintain the sustainability of the business are essential. Solid waste processing of palm oil mill in the form of palm kernel shell and fiber with pyrolysis and EFB for compost production and compacted (densification) into pellets and briquettes, necessary and important for various benefits as mentioned above.

The Urgency Palm Oil Waste Processing Plant

Production process of palm oil mills generate large amounts of waste every day. Untreated palm oil waste will only cause environmental problems. Orientation of the waste processing in addition to overcome the environment problem should also provide great added value for the oil palm business. Commonly palm oil mill waste is a dilemma between palm oil mill division with the palm oil plantation division, it is because the current practice of waste particularly empty fruit bunches (EFB) will generally be returned to the palm oil plantation to increase the soil fertility by composting. It means that palm oil waste is generated by the palm oil mill division, while the use of compost  is palm oil plantation division. Prior to use in plantation the waste also needs to be processed separately.

 

Judging from the process, biological composting process will take longer time and considerable a huge investment. Pyrolysis is a thermochemical process that is the best process for processing the empty fruit bunch. The main product of biochar can be applied as a medium to improve soil fertility and conserve the use of subsidized urea fertilizer in palm oil plantations, while biooil and syngas for energy applications. Application of pyrolysis system can also revolutionize the energy system in palm oil mill, so become more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Palm oil waste processing company that will become a stand-alone as alternative solution of the problem. Palm oil mill division will not be bothered for waste treatment especially empty fruit bunch while palm oil plantation division can directly get the product ready and apply for palm plantations as their responsibilty. The company is like a bridge between the two divisions and could be set up a separately or joint ventures with palm oil mill and palm oil plantations are best for the benefit of optimization.