Yi Herng Chan

Bio-Oil Production under Sub- and Supercritical Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch and Kernel Shell

Two types of Malaysian oil palm biomass; namely Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) and Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) are liquefied using sub-and supercritical water to produce bio-oil. Effects of temperatures (360, 390 and 450 °C) and pressures (25, 30 and 35 MPa) of the liquefaction of biomass on the bio-oil yields are investigated. The optimum liquefaction conditions for EFB and PKS using water are at supercritical conditions. PKS which consists of higher lignin content yields maximum bio-oil of about 41.3 wt % at temperature of 450 °C and the bio-oil yield from EFB is about 37.4 wt % at temperature of 390 °C.

Studies on Effect of Process Parameters Variation on Bio-oil Yield in Subcritical and Supercritical Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Malaysian Oil Palm Biomass

Experimental studies on liquefaction of three types of Malaysian oil palm biomass, namely empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm mesocarp fiber (PMF) and palm kernel shell (PKS) using water at subcritical and supercritical conditions are conducted in an Inconel batch reactor. The main objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of variation in process parameters such as temperature, pressure and reaction time on the bio-oil yield from the hydrothermal liquefaction of the biomass feedstocks. At the end of the chapter, a general life cycle assessment (LCA) of a liquefaction process is conducted to evaluate the impacts on the environment. In the present study, it is found that the optimum temperature and pressure for maximum bio-oil yield for all the three biomass feedstocks is at supercritical condition of water (390 °C, 25 MPa) and the optimum reaction time is 2 h for EFB and PMF and 4 h for PKS. The LCA indicates that liquefaction process has the highest influence in global warming potential, while other impacts such as acidification, eutrophication, toxicity and photo-oxidant formation are negligible.