Investigation on combustion characteristics of palm oil trunk biomass using drop tube furnace.

Indonesia has abundant natural biomass resources, particularly from oil palm plantations that have not been used properly. One type of biomass is oil palm tree trunks that are no longer productive, or over 25 years of planting period. The goal of this research is to investigate the potential of palm oil trunk as a raw material for cofiring in drop tube furnace. Palm oil trunk divided into three parts: Upper Trunk (UT), Middle Trunk (MT), and Lower Trunk (LT) as test samples. Drop Tube Furnace (DTF) equipment conducted to identify combustion properties at 550 and 600 °C in the form of ash deposit and emission gas. Ash deposition is determined through physical observation, proximate testing, and ultimate analysis. As a form of real-time monitoring, the combustion gas is evaluated using a portable gas meter. In comparison to the MT and LT samples, the physical observation probe of the UT sample revealed significantly more corrosive deposits. At the measured temperature of 550 °C, 0.1719 gr, 0.1357 gr, and 0.0233 gr of ash were deposited on UT, MT, and LT samples, respectively. While ash deposit at 600 °C for UT, MT, and LT, was 0.1924, 0.1445, and 0.1904 gr, respectively. Furthermore, the observed combustion gases exhibit emission levels were below environmental safety standard. The high quantity of ash, and corrosion left on the probe, indicate that palm oil trunk wasn't promised as cofiring material. Further research should study about appropriate composition as cofiring material with slagging and fouling indices consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]