Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
17
Oil Palm
Yuen May Choo, Chee-Liang Yung, and Ah-Ngan Ma
Malaysian Palm Oil Board
contents
17.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 433
17.2 Malaysian Energy Scenario ................................................................................................ 434
17.3 Malaysia's Oil Palm Industry ............................................................................................. 435
17.4 Palm Biomass ..................................................................................................................... 436
17.5 Availability of Trunks and Fronds ...................................................................................... 437
17.6 Availability of EFB, Shell, Fiber, and POME .................................................................... 438
17.7 Energy from Fiber and Shell .............................................................................................. 439
17.8 Energy from Empty Fruit Bunches ..................................................................................... 439
17.9 Palm Biomass Briquette .....................................................................................................440
17.10 Biogas from POME ............................................................................................................ 4 41
17.11 Producer Gas (Syngas) ....................................................................................................... 442
17.12 Bio-Oil ................................................................................................................................ 442
17.13 Palm Oil as a Diesel Substitute .......................................................................................... 442
17.14 Palm Oil Methyl Esters as Diesel Substitute ..................................................................... 443
17.15 Conclusions .........................................................................................................................448
References ...................................................................................................................................... 449
17.1 IntroductIon
Quickly diminishing energy reserves, greater environmental awareness, and increasing energy
consumption as a result of rapid industrialization have led to the search for alternative energy resources.
Alternative energy resources from silviculture or solar and wind power appear to be promising from
the environmental and renewable resource perspectives. However, from the Malaysian perspective,
there are several technical and socioeconomic uncertainties involved in their utilization. Nevertheless,
their long-term feasibility and use are important assumptions of the nation's research and development
efforts, but their immediate applications on a commercial scale are limited. What is needed is a
renewable energy resource for which the utilization system is already proven and operational as well
as easily amenable to expansion.
In 2001, the Malaysian government included renewable energy resources as fuel in its energy
policy, and oil palm biomass has been identified as having great potential as a renewable energy
resource. For example, the vast areas of planted oil palm ensure an abundant and readily available
supply of material.
There are many energy-generating technologies available for the purpose of converting palm oil
into biodiesel (chemically known as palm oil methyl esters) via esterification and transesterification
processes. The biodiesel produced meets the international specifications for biodiesel EN 14214 and
ASTM D 6751. Being the cheapest among the vegetable oils, palm oil is the most favored feedstock
for biodiesel production. Palm oil can also be used directly as boiler fuel. This paper will discuss
and highlight various bioenergy fuels derived from palm.
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