CATALYTIC PYROLYSIS OF EMPTY FRUIT BUNCH (EFB) WITH CALCINED OBTUSE HORN SHELL (COHS) IN A FIXED-BED REACTOR
Abstract
Cataytic pyrolysis of empty fruit bunch (EFB) was performed in the presence of calcined obtuse horn shell (COHS) (Cerithidea obtusa sp.) as catalyst for the production of bio-oil. Process optimization study was performed using response surface methodology (RSM) to investigate the effects of parameters such as different catalyst to biomass ratio, particle sizes and nitrogen flow rate towards bio-oil production. The results were analyzed completely by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The model was statistically significant. It was determined that particle sizes and nitrogen flow rate were significant individual parameters that had significant effect towards bio-oil production since the p-values were greater than 0.05. The interactions between catalyst to biomass ratio and particle size, catalyst to biomass ratio and nitrogen flow rate, and particle size with nitrogen flowrate had significant effects towards bio-oil production since the p-values were 0.0028, 0.0020 and 0.0082 respectively. The value of R2 was 0.8996 which indicated that there was a good correlation between the selected parameters and its level towards bio-oil production. The characterization of the COHS catalyst was performed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF). From SEM analysis, the surface morphology of COHS were rough with large particle size. From XRD analysis, the strong peaks of appeared in COHS at 700-900 °C were identified as CaO. This result confirmed the presence of CaO in COHS. From XRF analysis, the chemical detected in COHS at 800 °C having the largest composition was calcium of 98.13 wt%. This was followed by COHS at 900 and 700 °C with the values of 98.03 and 97.08 wt% respectively. As a conclusion, this study showed that optimization of catalytic pyrolysis of EFB with COHS via RSM was feasible.
