Production of Bio-Oil from Oil Palm's Empty Fruit Bunch via Pyrolysis

Due to the increase in crude oil prices and environmental concerns, a search for sustainable alternative fuel has gained significant attention. This involves the conversion of biomass to produce multiple types of fuels and products via pyrolysis or gasification. This work focused on synthesizing bio-oil from a type of oil palm waste, i.e. empty fruit bunch. The influences of variables such as temperature, sample size and reaction time on the amount of bio-oil produced as well as its composition were investigated. The pyrolysis process was carried out using Fixed Bed Activation Unit under nitrogen gas flow rate of approximately 0.1 ml/min after the sample has undergone a pretreatment process. The optimum condition for pyrolysis of empty fruit bunch was found to be at 500 C with particle size of 250 mu m and 3 hours of reaction time. Characterization of pyrolysis liquid produced in terms of density, pH, calorific value and the solid content was determined and reported