Enhancing biofuel pellet quality using torrefaction and co-pelletization of palm kernel shell and empty fruit bunch

作     者：Sang, Chang Siaw Samad, Noor Asma Fazli Abdul Saleh, Suriyati Binti 

作者机构：Faculty of Chemical & Process Engineering Technology Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah Lebuh Persiaran Tun Khalil Yaakob Pahang Kuantan26300 Malaysia 

出 版 物：《Environmental Science and Pollution Research》 (Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res.)

年 卷 期：2025年

页      面：1-12页

核心收录：

学科分类：0830[工学-环境科学与工程（可授工学、理学、农学学位）] 0817[工学-化学工程与技术] 08[工学] 0805[工学-材料科学与工程（可授工学、理学学位）] 0703[理学-化学] 0901[农学-作物学] 

基　　金：The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia for supporting this work and Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) for providing laboratory facilities and scholarship under Master Research Scheme.This work is financially supported through the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) No. FRGS/1/2019/TK02/UMP/02/10 (University reference RDU1901137) under Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) 

主　　题：Fruits 

摘      要：Palm kernel shell (PKS) and empty fruit bunch (EFB) are potential biomass resources for producing solid biofuel for energy applications. However, raw EFB and PKS are not uniform in size and pose rotting behavior. Torrefaction and co-pelletization are both effective methods to improve their combustion and mechanical characteristics. This study aims to investigate the effect of torrefaction temperature and the blending ratio of PKS and EFB on the mechanical and combustion characteristics of co-pellets. Initially, PKS and EFB underwent torrefaction process for 30 min at three different temperatures (210 °C, 240 °C, and 270 °C). Then, both torrefied PKS and EFB were blended at five different ratios (0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, 100:0) with carboxymethyl cellulose as a binder (10% by weight). The results showed that pellet produced at higher torrefaction temperature at 270 °C resulted in an increment of the higher heating value (HHV) but weaker mechanical strength. Pellet with a blending ratio of PKS to EFB (75:25) torrefied at 240 °C showed the comparatively best pellet quality in terms of HHV (17.94 MJ/kg), high tensile strength (3.5 MPa), low ash content (3.97 wt%), and the lowest density changes (0.66%), which satisfy the standard requirements for commercial pellets, indicating that a high-quality biofuel pellet can be produced using torrefaction and co-pelletization. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025.