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Studies on Effect of Process Parameters Variation on Bio-oil Yield in Subcritical and Supercritical Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Malaysian Oil Palm Biomass

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Advances in Bioprocess Technology

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Abstract

Experimental studies on liquefaction of three types of Malaysian oil palm biomass, namely empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm mesocarp fiber (PMF) and palm kernel shell (PKS) using water at subcritical and supercritical conditions are conducted in an Inconel batch reactor. The main objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of variation in process parameters such as temperature, pressure and reaction time on the bio-oil yield from the hydrothermal liquefaction of the biomass feedstocks. At the end of the chapter, a general life cycle assessment (LCA) of a liquefaction process is conducted to evaluate the impacts on the environment. In the present study, it is found that the optimum temperature and pressure for maximum bio-oil yield for all the three biomass feedstocks is at supercritical condition of water (390 °C, 25 MPa) and the optimum reaction time is 2 h for EFB and PMF and 4 h for PKS. The LCA indicates that liquefaction process has the highest influence in global warming potential, while other impacts such as acidification, eutrophication, toxicity and photo-oxidant formation are negligible.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomass Processing Lab, Department of Chemical Engineering, Centre for Biofuel and Biochemical Research, Green Technology MOR, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Perak, Malaysia

    Yi Herng Chan & Suzana Yusup

  2. Graduate School of Science and Technology, Department of Applied Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan

    Armando T. Quitain & Mitsuru Sasaki

  3. Chemical Engineering Department, Centre for Engineering and Sustainable Development Research, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines

    Raymond R. Tan

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering, Centre for Biofuel and Biochemical Research, Green Technology MOR, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Perak, Malaysia

    Yoshimitsu Uemura

  5. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, The University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus, Serangor, Malaysia

    Hon Loong Lam

Authors
  1. Yi Herng Chan
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  2. Suzana Yusup
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  3. Armando T. Quitain
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  4. Raymond R. Tan
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  5. Yoshimitsu Uemura
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  6. Mitsuru Sasaki
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  7. Hon Loong Lam
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Suzana Yusup .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University Malaysia Sabah School of Engineering & Info tech, Kotakinabalu, Malaysia

    Pogaku Ravindra

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Chan, Y.H. et al. (2015). Studies on Effect of Process Parameters Variation on Bio-oil Yield in Subcritical and Supercritical Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Malaysian Oil Palm Biomass. In: Ravindra, P. (eds) Advances in Bioprocess Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17915-5_12

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