EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This project will provide the efficient use of biomass in substitution for fossil fuels to generate fuel

energy by using efficient technologies. The objectives of this project are:

(i) To reduce the greenhouse emission by replacing fossil fuels

(ii) To reduce environmental pollution from unwanted biomass,

(iii) To improve energy efficiency,

(iv) To introduce renewable energy from local sources,

(v) To generate the possibility for new income streams for rural population,

(vi) To provide social and economic community benefits.

Palm kernel shell, which is one of the palm oil waste, have been identified as the most suitable,

available and unused biomass for energy production in Ijok, Kuala Selangor, Malaysia. This

project will initiate the creation of sustainable biomass energy generation in Ijok, Kuala Selangor,

Malaysia by using the palm kernel shell as the raw material. Palm kernel shell biomass is acted as

the potential energy source for industrial sector and this energy will be utilized as heat, electricity

or other usage to benefit the site selected. This project will install equipment units based on the

energy system. The estimated energy produced is 50 MW. Appropriate technology system is

applied to service the energy demands of industrial sector, utilizing available and unused biomass.
Chapter 1 : Introduction and Site analysis

Biomass is the organic matter that has stored energy through the process of photosynthesis. It

can be used as renewable energy. It exists in the form as plants that used up a lot of the sun’s

energy to make their own food in the form of chemical energy. As the plants died, the energy is

trapped in the residue and released through combustion and can be converted into biomass energy.

There are few examples of biomass and their uses for energy:

(i) Wood and wood processing wastes is burned to produce heat energy and generate

electricity in the industry;

(ii) Agriculture crops and waste materials is burned as fuel and converted to liquid biofuel;

(iii) Food, yard and wood waste is burned to generate eletrocity in power plants or converted

to biogas in landfills;

(iv) Animal manure and human sewage can be converted to biogas and burned as fuel.

In Malaysia, industry sector generates a significant amount of renewable biomass in the form

of oil palm wastes. Oil palm is truly a golden crop of Malaysia, and it is grown for its oils. The oil

palm industry was introduced to Malaysia in 1917 and now, Malaysia has ranked as the world's

largest producer and exporter of palm oil. The oil palm is an efficient converter of solar energy

into biomass. Besides being a prolific producer palm and kernel oil, it also generates a number of

residues and by product. The residues of oil palm industry are from the field and mill. Hence, palm

oil waste is chosen as the sources of biomass for industry sector in Malaysia. The chosen site

location of pam oil tree is at Ijok, Kuala Selangor, Malaysia. It is an industrial area of 11 acres

palm oil trees which located beside big factory. A palm oil industry can be set up in that area which

produces palm oil, palm oil by products and generate electricity.

Figure 1: Maps of Ijok, Kuala Selangor, Malaysia

Figure 2: Part of Palm Fruit

 The types of residue generated by the palm oil industry include Empty Fruit Bunches, Palm

Mesocarp Fiber and Palm Kernel Shell as a potential source of solid fuel. In general the fresh fruit

bunch contain about 27% palm oil, 6 - 7% palm kernel, 14 - 1 5% mesocarp, 6 - 7% shell and 23%

empty fruit bunch material. Palm kernel shell is the hard shell of the oil palm fruit seed that is

broken to take out the kernel used for extracting palm oil. Thus, it is the by-products of palm oil

manufacturing which the palm oil is extracted. The palm oil industry generally have excess shells

that are not used. These residues had disposal and environmental pollution problems. Instead of

disposing, palm kernel shells can be used as one of the useful raw materials of fuel to produce

steam and electricity to the industry. Therefore, it is the renewable sources.

Figure 3: Palm kernel shell

Moisture content in palm kernel shells is between 11% and 13%, which considered low

compared to other biomass residue. Moreover, palm kernel shells are virgin biomass which contain

residues of Palm Oil with high calorific value, which has slightly higher heating value than

common biomass. Compared to other biomass residue, it is an excellent quality biomass fuel with

easy handling and crushing. The natural density of palm kernel shell is only 1.1g/cm 3, and small

in size, thus it is convenient to store and transport. Furthermore, it has a very low ash and sulphur

content, so it will not release pollutant gases into the environment when burning.
 From the properties of palm kernel shell, it is a very suitable raw renewable materials of

fuel in industry sector. The electricity produced can be utilized for the industrial sector in Ijok,

Kuala Selangor, Malaysia which consists of few big factories. There are few benefits to the site if

the palm kernel shell biomass is used from there. It will help the climate change by reducing the

greenhouse gas emissions that give negative impact to global warming and climate change. The

gas emission of biomass is far lower compared to fossil fuels. Besides, the carbon dioxide emitted

by PKS biomass can be absorbed by plant for its growth while the carbon dioxide produced from

the fossil fuels is only going to atmosphere and increase greenhouse effects. Therefore, the air

pollution of Ijok will be decreased. Cleaner environment can be achieved for Ijok. In addition, the

energy harnessed from the palm kernel shell biomass is cheaper and cost-effective compared to

fossil fuels. Typically the cost is about one-third less than the fossil fuels doing the same job. This

means energy saving is available for that area.

Biomass energy could be used in several places throughout the energy system, such as

industry, transportation and power station. The estimated output power from the energy production

of palm kernel shell biomass is 5MW, which is sufficient to supply all the places including industry,

household, power station and transportation in Ijok. Hence, palm kernel shell biomass has the

potential to provide a cost-effective and sustainable supply of energy to more sites in the future.
Chapter 2: Properties of the Biomass Fuel

Moisture content

The moisture content of the biomass studied, palm kernel shell (PKS) usually ranging from 7% to

25% by mass. From the proximate analysis tabulated below, it shows that the statement was valid

where the percentage of moisture content is 9.61% which was within the desired range.

Ash content

The ash content in this PKS biomass study shows a 3.896% in wet basis which simply means that

this is the percentage of ash contained in PKS with the presence of moisture. Since calculation

requires in a dry basis, thus the moisture was removed resulting the ash to be having a 4.31%.

Volatility

From the proximate analysis, it was obtained that the volatility matter contributed the most for

PKS, with a percentage of 73.144% of the total PKS content.

Chemical compositions

The chemical compositions present in the PKS is basically consist of a few types which includes

the Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and also Sulphur. Taking 100kg of solid fuel as a

reference basis, the Carbon composition is 49.74%, Hydrogen composition is 5.68%, Oxygen

composition is 43.36%, Nitrogen composition is 1.02%, and lastly Sulphur composition is 0.27%.

The compositions is in a condition where ash was not included. So, ash will be needed to be

included during calculations of the ultimate analysis.

Proximate Analysis

Wet basis Dry basis

Moisture Content (%) 9.61 -

Volatile Matter (%) 73.144 73.144

(100) = 80.92
100−9.61

Fixed Carbon (%) 13.26 13.26

(100) = 14.67
100−9.61

Ash Content (%) 3.896 3.896

(100) = 4.31
100−9.61

Ultimate Analysis

Basis: 100kg of solid fuel

Components Ultimate Ultimate analysis Weight Moles Normalize

analysis (daf) (dry with ash) (kg)
(mol)

C (%) 49.74 49.74 47.596 47.596 3.966

(100 - 4.31)
100 12 3.966
= 47.596
= 3.966 =1

H (%) 5.68 5.68 5.435 5.435 5.435

(100 - 4.31) = 1.37
100 1 3.966
= 5.435
= 5.435

O (%) 43.36 43.36 41.491 41.491 2.593

(100 - 4.31)
100 16 3.966
= 41.491
= 2.593 = 0.654

N (%) 1.02 1.02

(100 - 4.31)
100
= 0.976
S (%) 0.27 0.27
(100 - 4.31)
100
= 0.2584
Ash - 4.31
As observed, only Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen will be taken into consideration for the solid

fuel. This is to ease the calculations for further studies since Nitrogen and Sulphur only take up a

minority of the overall content of the PKS.

Hence, the molecular formula of the fuel is CH1.37O0.654

Chapter 3: Total Net Generation

For the energy output, assume 5 MW (Megawatts) was generated throughout the combustion of

biomass.

Energy generated, 𝑄̇ = 5MW

= 5x103 kW

Based on ultimate analysis obtained from Chapter 2, the molecular formula for dry basis of Palm

Kernel Shell (PKS) is CH1.37O0.654.

The HHV (High Heating Value) and LHV (Low Heating Value) of the PKS can be obtained based

on the published data of Palm Kernel Shell(PKS) in the journal.

HHV (High Heating Value) 16743.2 kJ/kg

LHV (Low Heating Value) 14650.3 kJ/kg

To find the mass flow rate of the fuel and its combustion efficiency, the following calculation is

showed below.

Stoichiometric combustion equation:-

𝑌
CH1.37O0.654 + a(O2+3.76N2)  XCO2 + ( 2)H2O + 3.76aN2

𝑌 𝑍
a = 𝑋 +4–2

where CxHyOz = C1H1.37O0.654

1.37 0.654
a=1 + −
4 2

= 1.0155

Hence,

CH1.37O0.654 + 1.0155(O2+3.76N2)  CO2 + 0.685 H2O + 3.818N2

4.76𝑎𝑀𝑊𝑎𝑖𝑟
Air fuel ratio, (A/Fstoic) = 1𝑀𝑊𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙

4.76(1.0155)29
= 100
1( )
3.966

= 5.56 kg air/ kg C

𝑘𝐽 100𝑘𝑔𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙
HHV= 16743.2 𝑘𝑔𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑥 3.966𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐶

= 422168.43 kJ/kmol
To obtain the heat of formation for the fuel (hc),

CH1.37O0.654 + 1.0155(O2+3.76N2)  CO2 + 0.685 H2O + 3.818N2

When the fuel is burned with the stoichiometric air and all the substances are in STP and water is

liquid,

hc = -HHV = ∑𝑃 𝑁𝑝(ℎ𝑓0)𝑝 − ∑𝑟 𝑁𝑟(ℎ𝑓0)𝑟

- 422168.43= 1(-393546)+0.685(-285855)-1(hf0,fuel)

hf0,fuel = -167188.24 kJ/kmol C

Assume complete combustion with excess air of 50%,

CH1.37O0.654 + 1.0155(1.5)(O2+3.76N2)  CO2 + 0.685 H2O + bO2 + 3.818(1.5)N2

For Oxygen(O) balance:-

0.654+ 1.0155(1.5)(2) = 2 +0.685 +2b

b = 0.5075

CH1.37O0.654 + 1.523(O2+3.76N2)  CO2 + 0.685 H2O +0.5075O2 + 5.727N2

The wet analysis:-

Ntotal =1+0.685+5.727+0.5075

= 7.9195

Nco2=0.1263 NN2 =0.7232 NH20 = 0.0865

No2 = 0.06408
The dry analysis (without water):-

Ntotal =1+5.727+0.5075

= 7.235

Nco2=0.1382 NN2 =0.7916 No2 = 0.07015

To obtain adiabatic Flame temperature,

Q=0 for CH1.37O0.654 + 1.523(O2+3.76N2)  CO2 + 0.685 H2O +0.5075O2 + 5.727N2

At T=900K,

Q900k = 1(-393546+28047)+0.685(-241845+21930)+5.727(0+18222) + 0.5075(0+19250)

-1(-167188.24)

= -234825.766 kJ/kmol

At T=1500K,

Q1500K = 1(-393546+61681)+0.685(-241845+48181)+5.727(0+38404)+0.5075(0+40590)

-1(-167188.24)

= -56797.467 kJ/kmol

By interpolation,

𝑇𝑎𝑑𝑠 − 900 0 − (−234825.766)

=
1500 − 900 −56797.467 − (−234825.766)

Tads = 1691.4217K
The highest temperature that can be achieved in a combustion system is 1691.4247K without any

heat loss. The stack temperature used for the combustion equipment would be much lower than

the adiabatic temperature as heat loss is occurred during the process.

Hence, with the stack temperature of 427oC (700K),

The amount of heat released:-

-Q =∑𝑃 𝑁𝑝(ℎ𝑓0 + ℎ − ℎ0)𝑝 − ∑𝑟 𝑁𝑟(ℎ𝑓0 + ℎ − ℎ0)𝑟

= 1(-393546+17749) + 0.685(-241845+14209)+5.727(11942)+0.5075(12503) -

(-167188.24)

= -289802.3135 kJ/kmol C

3.966 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐶
=−289802.3135 𝑥 100 𝑘𝑔 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙

Q = 11493.56 kJ/kg

𝑄̇
Mass flow rate of the fuel, 𝑚̇ = 𝑄

5000
= 11493.56

= 0.435 kg fuel/s

𝑄̇
Combustion Efficiency = 𝑚̇(𝐿𝐻𝑉) x 100%

5000
= (0.435)(14650.3) x 100%

= 78.45%
The combustion efficiency for complete combustion with excess air of 50% and stack temperature

of 427 oC is around 70 to 80% which is optimized for the selected reboiler and equipment. Hence,

with mass flow rate of 0.435kg fuel per seconds going for combustion, it would produce total net

generation of 5 MW.

To calculate the emission factor (E.F),

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓𝐶𝑂2
E.F =
𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑

Where,

𝑘𝑔
Mass of CO2 = 1 kmol x (12+2(16))𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙

= 44 kg

Fuel content Supplied = MWfuel x LHV

100 𝑘𝑔 𝐾𝐽 𝑀𝐽
= 3.966 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙𝐶 𝑥 14650.3 𝑘𝑔 𝑥 1 𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐶 𝑥 (1𝑥10^ − 3) 𝑘𝐽

=369.39738MJ

44 𝑘𝑔
E.F = 369.39738𝑀𝐽

𝑘𝑔
= 0.1191 𝑀𝐽

Hence, there is 0.1191kg of Carbon dioxide released for every 1 MJ of energy produced.
Chapter 4: Technical Engineering Analysis

Process description

Biomass plant nowadays is producing the energy with heat from combustion of biomass

fuel. Closed thermal cycles principle should be implemented in this power generation system in

order to separate the combustion of the fuel and the power generation cycle. These two system is

to be linked together with the heat transfer from hot combustion flue gas and the process medium

used in secondary cycle. This process type able to avoid damage engine which is high maintenance

fees since biomass fuels and the resulting flue gases can contain elements such as fly-ash particles,

metals, and chlorine components. The process cycle of biomass plant was the process flow diagram

below.
 Figure 4: Process flow diagram

Based on this diagram, the dried feed from feed storage will flow to crusher to reduce the

size which will help in the rate of combustion since based on principle, the lower the size of particle,

the higher the surface area, and the rate of reaction will be higher. Meanwhile, air supply will

proceed to compressor before it enter the reactor to avoid the pressure different. The pressure of

air supply is to be monitored by the pressure control system in order to send the signal to

compressor if the pressure cannot meet the requirement. Furthermore, there are a flow rate control

system be installed in this flow to monitor the air supply. This purpose of this control system is

used to avoid the excess or insufficient air enter to this process. Thus, the waste of energy can be

reduced. The temperature and pressure of the mixture of biomass feed and air supply are 298K and

2000kpa before enter the reactor.

 In the reactor, this mixture is to be undergo combustion process and produce the hot

combustion gas and ash. During the combustion process, the adiabatic flame temperature will be

assume as the highest temperature in combustion since it is the temperature that results from a

complete combustion process that occurs without any work, heat transfer or changes in kinetic or

potential energy. Therefore, the combustion gas and ash as the product from the combustion will

have the maximum temperature which is 1691.4K and the pressure of product will be unchanged

since there is constant pressure combustion in this case. In this stage, a temperature control system

is to be installed in the combustion gas flow to monitor the temperature before it enter the boiler

in case the temperature is too low and unable to perform the heat exchange effectively. Moreover,

the level of the ash bin also be monitored with the level control system to avoid the overflow of

ash in ash bin and back flowing to the reactor which will affect the combustion process.

The combustion gas will enter the boiler while ash will flow to ash bin. In the boiler, heat

exchange will be occurred with process medium of second cycle which is the water. The water

will receive the large amount of heat from combustion gas and raise up the temperature above the

melting point which is 700K. Therefore, it will be evaporated and become steam under high

pressure and temperature. The steam will enter power generation system which are consist of steam

turbine and engine or generator to generate the electricity energy.

Major component of combustor system

The arrangement of combustor system was shown in the diagram below.

Figure 5: Arrangement of the component in combustion system

Fuel storage

The biomass fuel must be stored in sufficient storage to ensure the supply to biomass

utilization plant. According to principle, the fuel storage unit should be small in size and designed

for just-in-time operation to low down the capital cost. Normally, the biomass storage capacity

unit is just 10% of annual fuel use. Based on this, the minimum size of storage was determined as

below.

Mass flow rate

𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔
0.4547 = 13718160
𝑠 𝑦𝑟

𝑔 𝑘𝑔
Density of fuel = 5.292x10-3 𝑐𝑚3 = 5.292𝑚3
Minimum size of storage

= 13718160(10%) x 5.292

𝑚3
=7259650.2 𝑦𝑟

𝑚3
= 19894.528 𝑑𝑎𝑦

The ZZZTank from Shijiazhuang Zhengzhong Technology Co. Ltd is to be selected for

this biomass plant as storage unit. Although the maximum size of this unit is just 13900m 3, but

there are many specification of this unit able to overcome this weakness. Firstly, this unit is gas

and liquid impermeable which mean it is able to block most of the air and water from outside to

avoid contamination of fuel. Secondly, the high hardness of this unit can withstand most of the

impact from outside, thus, most of the fuel storage will be safe. Thirdly, this unit is able to support

all the pH range when it keep the fuel inside and the trend of corrosion will be low as well as the

maintenance fees. Lastly, this unit is easy to clean since the surface is smooth, glossy, inert and

anti-adhesion. There are at least three units of this storage to avoid the shortage in supplement of

fuel feed.

Figure 6: ZZZTank
Feed system

The size of the palm kernel shell need to achieve the desired size before entering the

combustor. The smaller the size of palm kernel shell biomass entering as feed, the greater the

surface area of the feed, and hence the greater the heating efficiency in the combustor to ensure

optimum process efficiency. Therefore, crushing and screening of the feed is needed to reduce the

size of the palm kernel shell biomass. Raumaster crushing system is chosen as the feed system for

the process, and this crushing system were produced and supplied by the Raumaster Company.

Raumaster crushing systems are able to handle untreated large particle size such as palm

kernel shell. Raumaster screening equipment include disc screens, gyratory screens, rotary screens,

vibratory screens and air classifiers. The crushing and chipping systems able to crush the feed

which is palm kernel shell into smaller particle size. It hold the biomass between two parallel solid

surfaces, and apply sufficient force to bring the surfaces together to generate enough energy within

the biomass being crushed so that its molecules separate from each other.

Figure 7 : Raumaster Crushing system

 The crushing is carried out either by slowly rotating shredders and crushers or cutting

crushers with higher rotor speeds. Selection of the equipment is always done taking into account

the fuel properties and quality requirements of the end product. Raumaster supplies the entire

screening and crushing system that has been optimized for the demands of the fuels, taking care

of safety and ease of operation. The maintenance cost of Raumaster is low and easy to

work. Moreover, Raumaster robust and heavy duty design ensures a reliable operation of the

screening equipment.

Combustor

In principle, there are few combustion technology used in biomass plant which are fixed-

bed combustion, fluidized bed combustion and dust combustion. The factors of selection of

combustion technology in this biomass plant process are based on the fuel characteristic, output

energy, ash content and moisture content.

Based on the requirements of this designed biomass process, moving grate in fixed bed

combustion was be selected since grate furnaces are appropriate for high moisture content, varying

particle sizes, and high ash content biomass fuels. The grate is designed to ensure the homogeneous

distribution of the fuel and the bed embers over the whole grate surface for the purpose of maintain

the equal primary air supply to combustor. Furthermore, in order to smooth operation of grate

furnaces, the primary air supply divided into sections to adjust the specific air amounts to the

requirements of the zones where drying, gasification, and charcoal combustion prevail.
 In addition, staged combustion should be obtained in grate furnace by separating the

primary and secondary combustion chamber for the purpose of avoiding back mixing of secondary

air and separate gasification and oxidation zones. The purpose of instalment of secondary

combustion chamber and secondary air injection is to make sure the flue gas and air are mixed

completely because the better the mixing quality between flue gas and air, the lower amount of

excess oxygen during combustion, and lastly the higher the efficiency. Counter-current

combustion is most suitable for this process since fuels with low heating values. The good

convection effect will occur when hot flue gas passes over the biomass fuel entering the furnace.

With the good mixing of flue gas and secondary air in the combustion chamber, the unburned

gases entering the boiler can be reduced and also increase emissions.

Therefore, the HQ-J10.0 biomass combustion furnace from Shangqiu Haiqi Machinery

Equipment co, ltd, China is to be selected in this biomass process since it meet all the requirements

stated above and with energy saving advantage. The maximum capacity of this furnace is

25104000kJ/h and 1000oc to 1300oc temperature range. The cooling method for this furnace is

water cooling. The ability to withstand the high pressure of this furnace is high as it is made of

steel and refractory material with dimension 3200 x2800 x2800mm.

Figure 8: HQ-J10.0 biomass combustion furnace

Heat Exchange (Boiler)

Once the solid fuel be combusted in the furnace, it will producing hot flue gases, which

then produce steam in the heat exchange section of the boiler. The steam is used directly for heating

purposes or passed through a steam turbine generator to produce electric power. In order to achieve

this, water tube structure boiler must be used in the process and able to come out the output of

steam and hot water in high temperature.

During the process, the highest steam pressure of heated steam will be 2000kpa after the

heat exchange. Thus, the selected boiler must have the high strength to withstand the high pressure

when the steam flow in tube. At last, thermal efficiency of boiled also need to be consider when

select the equipment. Therefore, DHW Biomass Boiler from TaiShan Brand is to be selected to

use in the biomass process since the thermal efficiency of this equipment is high which is 82.86%

and able to withstand high pressure of 1.25MPa.

Figure 9 : DHW Biomass Boiler

Air to and from building

Air supply is crucial as it is the requirement for combustion of biomass. Air would be act

as the feeding gas and also supplying the oxygen required for combustion. In order to achieve

complete combustion, proper amounts of fuel and air in terms of air-fuel ratio are mixed under

certain temperature and pressure. Theoretical (stoichiometric) combustion have perfect air-fuel

ratio but in reality, achieving 100% efficiency is impossible. But to ensure all of the fuel burnt

completely, excess air has to be added to achieve it. Typical excess air required in the combustion

system is around 5-50%. For this case study, 50% excess air is used for achieving complete

combustion in the combustor.

Permanent air intakes must be the need as temporary air intakes in the combustor would

result in incomplete combustion and produce smoky gases such as carbon monoxide. Air flow

must be in turbulence as it is to ensure fully mixing of the air and the fuel. If the air flow is not

turbulence, some parts of the fuel might not have enough excess air which result in incomplete

combustion. To avoid that, an air compressor would be used to allow more air mixing with the

fuel towards the boiler.

Rotary vane compressor would be suitable as it supply high amounts of compressed air and

consumed less energy compare to traditional rotary screw compressors which can save up to 35%

of energy. The temperature for the air entering the reactors would be around room temperature and

its pressure would be same as the boiler pressure requirement which is 2000kPa to avoid huge

pressure difference. Hence, OPTIMA model 11 rated 15HP tank mounted compressors from

Mattei Company was selected for the air compressor as it benefits with quiet operation, low

maintenance and provided constant top performance for 24 hours a day.

 Figure 10: OPTIMA model 11 rotary vane compressor

The location and size (design) of the air intakes from the boiler (combustor) also takes the

important roles in biomass combustion. For this case study, assume the boilers are installed in a

confined spaced, hence there must have two openings connecting to the outside where one opening

is located high in the outside wall and the second opening is close to the floor. The main reason to

have the air intake opening on both side is to allow cooler outside air to enter the boiler room. If

one of the opening is closed, heat would built-up in the boiler room and eventually cause the inside

air (become lighter) escape through the single opening which lead to negative pressure inside the

boiler. This greatly affect the combustion and should be avoided.

Cyclone Ash Separator

Cyclonic separation is a method of removing particulates from gas or liquid stream, without the

use of filters, through vortex separation. After a combustion process, there will be a large amount

of ash or particulates to be removed. This equipment uses the principle of gravity settling,

centrifugal sedimentation to isolate solid, liquid impurities and fine dust particle from air flow.

The cyclone ash separator chosen is using Q345R that meets the strength requirement of the board.

The main nozzle uses the steel pipe flanges, sealing gasket with high temperature resistant and

corrosion resistant. Besides, this cyclone ash separator has low pressure drop and require less

maintenance.

Figure 11: The design of the cyclone ash separator

Specification of the cyclone ash separator chosen

Working Pressure 1.6 – 25MPa

Working Temperature -20oC – 800oC

Separator Accuracy 5𝜇m

Ash Bin

Ash bin is used to collect the ash that separate from the cyclone ash separator after combustion

process. A professional coal fly ash vertical lifting bucket elevator from China is chosen because

it is made from carbon steel which provide a great fire resistance to resist the heat of the ash after

the combustion process. The maximum temperature that can be resisted for this ash bin is 250 oC.

Besides, the maximum volume of ash that can be hold by this type of ash bin is around 0.6 – 2L.

The speed for the bucket to lift the ash collected is 30.1 m/min. The working principle for this type

of ash bin is, when the material (ash) is feed into the bucket, and plate chain will host to the

machine top and then automatically discharging the material by the gravity function. The plate

chain is high premium quality and strong alloy steel materials with the feature of abrasion

resistance and durable.

Induced Draft Fan

The purpose of using Induced Draft Fan or ID fan is to create a vacuum or even a negative

pressure in systems such as Steam boiler or Thermal Oil Heater. Besides, Induced Draft Fan is

also used in order to identify the combustion process used in large boilers. Induced Draft Fan is

usually located between a dust collector and a chimney. A dust collector is a system used to

enhance the quality of air released from an industrial or combustion processing while a chimney

is basically a structure that allows ventilation for hot flue gases and exhaust them to the atmosphere.

Therefore, Induced Draft Fan takes the hot flue gases produced from the furnace via the dust

collector and later delivering them to the chimney. Induced draft fan is unlike forced draft fan

which uses positive air pressure. Induced Draft Fan uses negative air pressure in a system.
A negative air pressure simply means allowing air to flow/pull in. Induced Draft Fan normally

used in combustion systems are normally high in temperature and extra heavy duty construction.

Figure 12: Induced Draft Fan from B.D Fans And Enviro Engineering

This Induced Draft Fan B.D Fans And Enviro Engineering provide a technical specification

where the ID fan can hold a capacity from 500m3/hr to up till 1500000m3/hr at a secure pressure

from 150mmwg to 3000mmwg. It could also support to up to a temperature of 450centigrade.

Besides, this equipment could also produce to an efficiency of up to 89%

Steam Turbine

After the water received heat from combustion gas, it will become steam under high

pressure and temperature. Therefore, the selected steam turbine must able to handle this steam as

inlet to produce the energy in generator. Based on this, the steam turbine from ShangHai Brilliane

General Equipment Co.Ltd is to be selected for this biomass plant since it able to handle the high

pressure inlet of 8.89MPa. The rated power of this steam turbine is 6000kW which is close to the

expected power output of this plant.

 Figure 13 : Steam Turbine from ShangHai Brilliane General Equipment Co.Ltd

Chapter 5- Environmental Analysis

Environmental issues are an essential concern in a power plant project. Deficient in

environmental planning can affect the environment and damage the image of biomass energy.

Palm oil processing has been viewed as an agribusiness that leads to a decent return on investments.

In terms of getting great quality oil, palm oil processing produces various forms of ‘wastes’ during

the processing activities. These wastes include: palm oil mill effluent (POME), empty fruit

bunches (EFB), palm mesocarp fibre and palm kernel shell which may still be put to a good use.

The destruction of the world's precious rainforests contributes a significant problem to the

world society. However, palm oil plantation is one of the common factor of it. Due to the rising

demand of palm oil, some of the cultivators expanding their farms to development the new oil

palm plantations has resulted in significant deforestation. As the continuous development of palm

oil plantations, it has threatened the rich biodiversity in these ecologically important ecosystems

and the habitat of species. Although palm oil is not the only factor of deforestation, but it does

contribute its role.

 In addition, palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the most environmentally harming by-

product in the milling process. POME is a hot and acidic effluent that contains oil, nutrients and

plant debris. POME has high specific biological oxygen demand, (BOD), high acidity and

temperature, and chemical oxygen demand (COD). POME is usually discharged into the

waterways. It can contaminate drinking water for human and animal communities if it does not

undergo pre-treatment process. Due to POME high acidity, it could bring remarkably harmful to

aquatic animals by causing exceptionally acidic environments or eutrophication where excessive

algal growth occurs on the surface of the water. POME is commonly discharged into non-

circulating ponds for remediation, thereby releasing methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen

sulphide, all of which lead to global climate change.

In other words, the milling process of palm oil will produce solid waste products such as

empty fruit bunches (EFB), palm mesocarp fibre and palm kernel shell. Despite the high carbon to

nitrogen ratio of the solid waste, these products are all handled as economically useful purposes to

generate as fuel material and mulch in agriculture. For every ton of fresh fruit bunches will

generate approximately 0.22 tons of empty fruit bunches (EFB) at the extraction mill.

Palm kernel shells (PKS) are the shell fractions left after the nuts have been removed from

crushing in the palm oil mill. Palm kernel shells have relatively low moisture content (11% -13%)

compare to other biomass residues. Palm kernel shells have slightly higher heating value than

average lignocellulosic biomass. PKS is a good quality biomass compare to other residues from

the industry because it has uniform size distribution, easy crushing, and limited biological activity

due to low moisture content. Basically, palm kernel shells are used as solid fuels for steam boilers.
By burning of these solid fuels, it will emit dark smoke and carbonized fibrous particulates to the

environment due to incomplete combustion of the fuel. It can be tackled by using commercially

high-pressure boilers to burn palm oil waste to solve the problem.

Nowadays, most of the factories are already implementing idea of zero waste emission, for

instance, all bio-wastes are utilized as fertilizer and materials for energy generation. Torrefaction

is one of the technology that can generate energy from bio-wastes. Torrefaction is a thermal

chemical process to convert carbonaceous feedstock such as biomass into coal shaped material

which has a greater fuel characteristic than original biomass. It takes place within a temperature

range of approximately 200 to 300 °C and under atmospheric conditions.

In this case study, the carbon dioxide emission factor is calculated where 0.1191 kg of CO2

is emitted for each 1 MJ of energy was produced. This is considerably average in standard. To

minimize the carbon dioxide emission, carbon dioxide cap should be established to control the

emission of the carbon dioxide to the surrounding so that it would not impact the environment

greatly.

Currently, biomass torrefaction is taken completely consideration as a vital pre-processing

step to enhance biomass quality in chemical composition and physical properties. However,

biomass torrefaction should be taken into consideration because it could bring negative

environmental impacts. Torrefaction process emits gases which contain organic acids, gaseous

volatiles and primary tars. Follow by capturing the liquid and gaseous products from the process,

the remaining emissions consist only CO2, H2O, NOx and SOx. SOx emissions can be negligible

due to small amount of sulfur content in biomass while NOx emissions can also be ignored because

of low temperature. The condensed tars in torrefaction biomass process is the major concern and

should be taken considerately.

 Lastly, crude palm oil and its derivatives product are transported from place to different

regions for domestic needs or export needs. The final transportation of crude palm oil is mainly

used of truck and ocean tanker that consumes fossil diesel. Either for domestic or export need the

final transportation is also considered giving significant environment impact with the gigantic

amount of crude palm oil movement. Fossil-based diesel results in huge amount of CO2 emission.

The vehicles transporting crude palm oil to the destination release a huge amount of carbon dioxide

gas into the atmosphere. The environment impact caused by the transportation of crude palm oil

must be taken serious consideration.

Conclusion:-

Palm Kernel Shell was used as the raw material for the biomass generation. The site

chosen for the study was Ijok, Kuala Selangor, Malaysia which was an industrial area consisting

high amount of palm oil trees. The purpose of choosing the selected location was to generate

electricity using the waste of Palm Kernel Shell.

With the aid and references, the properties of the biomass fuel was obtained. The

moisture content was having a percentage of 9.61%, ash content of 4.31% and volatility of

73.144%. As for the chemical compositions, taking in as 100kg of solid fuel, Oxygen’s having a

composition of 43.36%, Nitrogen composition of 1.02% and finally Sulphur composition of

0.27%. Since the required calculation is mode in dry basis, hence the proximate and ultimate

analysis of the study was done by removing the moisture or H2 content in each of the

components. After obtaining weight for each of the components and also the moles, the

components was then normalized in terms of Carbon. Upon normalized, the molecular formula

of the solid fuel was obtained as CH1.37O0.654. It shows that the Nitrogen was not included in the

molecular formula of the solid fuel was to ease and calculations for future calculations.
 The energy output generated throughout the combustion of biomass is assumed as 5MW.

With the balance stoichiometric equation for the Palm Kernel Shell, the air fuel ratio calculated

was 5.56kg air/kg C. By using the high heating value (HHV) obtained from the journal, the

enthalpy of formation of the fuel, hf0,fuel calculated was -167188.24 kJ/kmol C. The combustion

process is assumed as complete combustion with an excess air of 50%. The highest temperature

that can be achieved in a combustion system was 1691.4247K without any heat loss. The stack

temperature used for the combustion equipment would be much lower than the adiabatic

temperature as heat loss is occurred during the process. With the stack temperature of 427oC

(700K), the amount of heat released was around 11493.56 kJ/kg. The mass flow rate of the fuel

used to produce a net energy output of 5MW was calculated as 0.435 kg fuel/s. The combustion

efficiency for the process was 78.45%. For every 1MJ of energy produced, there is 0.1191 kg of

carbon dioxide released.

There were approximately 8 major components exist in most of the biomass combustor

system. Firstly was the fuel storage whereby fuel were stored according to their required

specification needed to be taken into consideration such as mass flow rate, density of fuel and

also the size of storage. The next component was the feed system which emphasizes that size of

PKS as to achieve their desired size for the combustor system to operate smoothly and work

efficiently. Crushing and screening of feed is needed to be applied provided the requirement was

not achieved. Thirdly is the combustor. A combustor is to be selected according to the fuel

characteristic, output energy, ash content and moisture content. Heat exchanger or also named as

boiler was also one of the components existed in a combustor system. A heat exchanger serves a

purpose to produce hot flue gases and then producing steam in the heat exchange section which

is then passed through a steam turbine generator to produce electric power.

 Air supply to and from building is also crucial as sufficient amount of oxygen supplied

will be required for complete combustion. The next major component was the cyclone ash

separator which this separator functions to remove particulates from gas or even liquid stream. It

uses the principle of gravity settling, centrifugal sedimentation to isolate solid, liquid impurities

and fine dust particle from air flow. Besides, after the cyclone ash separator, ash content will be

collected in the ash bin located below the cyclone ash separator. Furthermore, an Induced Draft

Fan takes the hot flue gases produced from the furnace via the dust collector and later delivering

them to the chimney. Lastly is the steam turbine which is the source of energy from generator to

a combustor system.

The effluent of the combustion process can significantly cause the environmental issues.

During the combustion process, carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere can speed up the

global warming. Besides, the by-product palm oil mill effluent (POME) is most harming to the

environment, it commonly discharge into waterways and can contaminate the drinking water for

the human and animal communities. Furthermore, by burning of the palm kernel shell fuels, it

will emit dark smoke and carbonized fibrous particulates to the environment due to incomplete

combustion of the fuel. It can be tackled by using commercially high-pressure boilers to burn

palm oil waste to solve the problem. Lastly, nitrogen dioxide that released into the atmosphere

after the combustion process also will cause a serious respiratory problem such as bronchitis.
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