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Problem Statement: Oil palm Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) are abundant biomass in Malaysia. Studies about production of biofuels using slow pyrolysis of EFB are still lacking. So, this study was aimed to understand the physical and chemical properties of the bio-oil and its simple blends. Approach: EFB was slow pyrolysed with internal heating at terminal temperature of 600[degrees]C in a pilot kiln and the main product is the EFB char and the condensates from the emissions were separated into aqueous and tarry fractions. Results: 13 wt% of tarry component (referred as EFB oil) was obtained as small fraction of co-product. The chemical composition of the EFB oil acquired was analyzed by GC-MS and its elemental composition, stability, miscibility, oil fuel properties and corrosion characteristics were determined. The empirical formula of the EFB oil with heating value of 31.44 MJ [kg.sup.-1] was established as [CH.sub.1.41][N.sub.0.03][O.sub.0.24]. Characterizations of bio-oil, diesel and emulsifier blends were performed. Conclusions/Recommendations: The experimental results showed that the emulsions of EFB oil obtained may be directly used as a fuel oil for combustion in a boiler or a furnace without any upgrading. Alternatively, the fuel may be refined to be used by vehicles. Key words: Biomass, EFB, pyrolysis, EFB oil, INTRODUCTION Biomass is widely considered as a sustainable source of renewable energy particularly in countries where there is plentiful agricultural activities. Over the last two decades, special attention has been [...]

Synchrotron X-ray microtomography has been utilized for the in-situ observation of steady-state plane-strain fatigue crack growth. A high-resolution experimental configuration and phase contrast imaging technique have enabled the reconstruction of crack images with an isotropic voxel with a 0.7 μm edge. The details of a crack are readily observed, together with evidence of the incidence and mechanical influence of closure. After preliminary investigations of the achievable accuracy and reproducibility, a variety of measurement methods are used to quantify crack-opening displacement (COD) and closure from the tomography data. Utilization of the physical displacements of microstructural features is proposed to obtain detailed COD data, and its feasibility is confirmed. Loss of fracture surface contact occurs gradually up to the maximum load. This is significantly different from tendencies reported where a single definable opening level is essentially assumed to exist. The closure behaviour is found to be attributable mainly to pronounced generation of mode III displacement which may be caused by local crack topology. Many small points of closure still remain near the crack tip, suggesting that the near-tip contact induces crack growth resistance. The effects of overloading are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]