Chemical, structural and combustion characteristics of carbonaceous products obtained by hydrothermal carbonization of palm empty fruit bunches

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 135; pp. 683 - 689
• Main Authors: Parshetti, Ganesh K., Kent Hoekman, S., Balasubramanian, Rajasekhar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2013
• Subjects: activation energy; analysis; Arecaceae; Arecaceae - drug effects; Arecaceae - metabolism; Biomass; Biotechnology; Biotechnology - methods; Blends; Carbon; Carbon - chemistry; Carbonization; Charcoal; Charcoal - chemistry; chemistry; Co-combustion; Coal; Coal - analysis; Combustion; drug effects; energy; Energy densification; energy density; Fruit; Fruit - drug effects; Fruit - metabolism; Fruits; Hot Temperature; Hydrochar; Hydrothermal carbonization; Kinetics; metabolism; methods; Palm; palm oils; pharmacology; Polymer blends; Raw; thermal analysis; Water; Water - pharmacology; Co-combustion; Hydrochar; Energy densification; Biomass; Hydrothermal carbonization
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2012.09.042

[Display omitted] ► Energy rich hydrochars were synthesized by HTC of palm empty fruit bunches. ► Formation of hydrochars relies on a dehydration and decarboxylation process. ► Hydrochars were characterized by FE-SEM, FTIR, BET, XRD and TGA-DTG. ► Hydrochar presented in this work has unique chemical properties. ► Potential applications of hydrochars include fuels, energy sources and adsorbents. A carbon-rich solid product, denoted as hydrochar, was synthesized by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of palm oil empty fruit bunch (EFB), at different pre-treatment temperatures of 150, 250 and 350°C. The conversion of the raw biomass to its hydrochar occurred via dehydration and decarboxylation processes. The hydrochar produced at 350°C had the maximum energy-density (>27MJkg−1) with 68.52% of raw EFB energy retained in the char. To gain a detailed insight into the chemical and structural properties, carbonaceous hydrochar materials were characterized by FE-SEM, FT-IR, XRD and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analyses. This work also investigated the influence of hydrothermally treated hydrochars on the co-combustion characteristics of low rank Indonesian coal. Conventional thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) parameters, kinetics and activation energy of different hydrochar and coal blends were estimated. Our results show that solid hydrochars improve the combustion of low rank coals for energy generation.