Conference article

Torrefaction is a low temperature treatment for lignocellulosic biomass at lower temperatures between 473 K and 573 K under an inert atmosphere; which has been found to be effective not only for improving the quality of lignocellulosic solid fuels; such as their energy density and shelf life; but also to make them useful as a feedstock for further decomposition such as gasification and liquefaction. Although more than ten papers on this subject have been published in the last several years; in all of these studies; the atmosphere has been inert (nitrogen). When we try to utilize waste thermal sources; such as flue gas from boilers for torrefaction; the gas contains some components other than nitrogen such as oxygen; carbon dioxide and water vapor. The most serious problem is thought to be the existence of oxygen in the gas. In this study; torrefaction of Malaysian oil palm wastes was carried out in a fixed bed tubular reactor under oxygen/nitrogen flow at a temperature range of 494 to 573 K; in order to clarify the effect of oxygen on torrefaction of lignocellulose. The effects of torrefaction conditions such as atmosphere; temperature and time; on the torrefaction behavior were investigated. The lignocellulosic biomass wastes utilized were mesocarp fiber and kernel shell of oil palm; which are typical agricultural wastes in Malaysia.

Torrefaction; Oil palm waste; Lignocellulose; Oxygen