title: Pyrolysis of oil palm empty fruit bunch biomass pellets using multimode microwave irradiation.
abstract: Oil palm empty fruit bunch pellets were subjected to pyrolysis in a multimode microwave (MW) system (1 kW and 2.45 GHz frequency) with and without the MW absorber, activated carbon. The ratio of biomass to MW absorber not only affected the temperature profiles of the EFB but also pyrolysis products such as bio-oil, char, and gas. The highest bio-oil yield of about 21 wt.% was obtained with 25% MW absorber. The bio-oil consisted of phenolic compounds of about 60-70 area% as detected by GC-MS and confirmed by FT-IR analysis. Ball lightning (plasma arc) occurred due to residual palm oil in the EFB biomass without using an MW absorber. The bio-char can be utilized as potential alternative fuel because of its heating value (25 MJ/kg).
authors.affiliation: Department of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM 81310 Skudai, Johor D.T., Malaysia.
authors.forename: Arshad Adam
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Salema
authors.forename: Farid Nasir
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Ani
mesh_terms: D028023:Arecaceae / Q000528:radiation effects*; D056804:Biofuels / Q000528:radiation effects*; D018533:Biomass; D003246:Conservation of Energy Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004735:Energy Transfer; D005638:Fruit / Q000528:radiation effects*; D017745:Incineration / Q000379:methods*; D008872:Microwaves; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000528:radiation effects*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D010936:Plant Extracts