PELLETS PALM RESIDUE TO PELLET FUEL Malaysia is the world’s second-largest palm oil producer. The sector accounts for about 94 percent of an estimated 168 million tonnes of biomass residues generated annually. Detik Aturan Sdn Bhd is one of a growing number of pioneers producing biomass pellets from Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB). 20 Bioenergy International PS1 2015 Bio Eneco commission EFB pelletising line ESTABLISHED IN 2007 Bio Eneco Sdn Bhd is a Malaysian company that is focused on transforming residues from the oil palm industry into biomass fuel products. With the ambition of becoming Malaysia’s foremost biofuel producer, the company started off with Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) trading. Today Bio Eneco has expanded its operations to become a producer of fuel pellets made from a blend of Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB), PKS and wood. First for Muyang Construction of the new line started in November 2013 and was finished in May 2014. The contract for the pelletising technology was awarded to the Chinese company Muyang GrainTech Co., Ltd. The scope of supply included four twotonne per-hour pelletisers and, according to Rainy Wei Qian, South East Asia sales manager for Muyang, it is the first pelletising line the company has supplied to Malaysia. A blend of EFB, PKS and wood will be used as feedstock. The blend proportions remain undisclosed though Wei Qian revealed that the addition of wood in the mix provides the lignin, making the pelletising process easier. PKS processing Adjacent to the new line is the existing PKS processing line. Unprocessed raw PKS has low ash and sulphur content and is readily applicable as a fuel for boilers and furnaces. – We can produce about 200 000 tonnes of biomass fuels annually. This includes wood and EFB pellets, processed PKS, semiprocessed PKS and raw PKS, said Dato Yeo Diamond, CEO of Bio Eneco Sdn Bhd. WITH OVER 400 PALM OIL MILLS in Malaysia there are plenty of Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) available, a residue from the stripping of oil palm fruits in the oil extraction process. EFBs have a solid content of about 30 percent of which roughly two-thirds are fibrous and the rest are soft parenchyma tissues that cement the fiber together. EFB pilot project In 2012, Detik Aturan setup the first EFB pellet plant as a pilot in Tanjung Karang about 60 km from Port Klang, Malaysia’s largest port. It receives roughly 1 000 tonnes of EFB fiber from nearby palm oil mills every month. The EFBs are already pressed into 5-10 cm size as a result of the palm oil processing stage, but still contain 45-50 percent moisture. Before feeding into the pelletiser the moisture needs to be brought down to 20 percent and the size milled down to 1 cm. One tonne of raw EFB fibre yields about 450 kg of pellets. – The pelleting system, including three pellet presses, was bought from a Chinese manufacturer but these could not pelletise EFB from the start. We worked hard with lo- The Malaysian biomass fuel producer, Bio Enerco Sdn Bhd, has recently installed an Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) pelletising line at its Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) processing plant. The Chinese firm Muyang supplied the pellet line and it is the first such line delievered by the company to Malaysia. – A tonne of raw EFB fiber yields about 450 kg of pellets, said Md Ariffin, Executive Director of Detik Aturan Sdn Bhd. cal engineers and modified the whole system. Now each press has 1.5-2.5 tonne-per-hour production capacity and runs 16-20 hours per day, said Md Ariffin, Executive Director of Detik Aturan Sdn Bhd. Export to Korea In December 2013, the South Korean government approved the use of EFB pellets as fuel. Detik Aturan has committed to supply Korean utilities with up to 100 000 tonnes per month by the end of 2015. The plan is to build another five to ten plants. – In Terengganu, we are building the pellet plant inside a palm oil mill, and it will collect all the biomass from the surrounding mills. We’re working with the Chinese company ZhengChang to manufacture the pelletising machine with special EFB pellet modifications. The monthly capacity is aimed to reach 2 000 tonnes. Another 10 000 tonne-per-month plant is planned for Sabah together with Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC), said Arfizal. Text & photo: Xinyi Shen PS1/4720/AS – Today we can supply fully processed PKS with moisture content under 3.1 percent, semi-processed PKS with a moisture content of around 15 percent and raw PKS, said Dato Yeo Diamond, CEO of Bio Eneco Sdn Bhd. However in its fresh raw state, PKS has a high moisture content and contains high levels of unwanted contaminants arising from natural biological processes. This makes it unsuitable for storage for longer lengths of time. Issues include odour, fungus, bacteria, diseases, insects, sludge and ammonia. – Fully processed palm kernel shells have a higher calorific value (CV), up to 4922 Kcal/kg (Gross) and 4313 Kcal/kg (Net) and longer shelf life compared to its raw form, explained Dato Yeo Diamond. Impurities are removed and moisture content reduced before treating PKS with preservatives to inhibit bacteria and fungus growth, and thereby preventing decay. – We also plan to use PKS powder to make pellets. The CV will be up to 5500 Kcal/kg. Customers have the option of having our PKS products packaged in small 25 kg bags or Jumbo 600 kg bags, said Dato Yeo Diamond. Text & photo: Xinyi Shen PS1/4719/AS
Bioenergy nr 1 - 2015
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