Preliminary study on properties of oil palm fronds from agricultural residues as a material in generating biomass energy

This study was conducted to investigate the preliminary study on properties of oil palm fronds from agricultural residues as a material in generating biomass energy. Two parameters were used in this study which are portion and particle size to determine their effect on proximate analysis, physical testing and energy content. The proximate analysis include moisture content, volatile matter, ash content and fixed carbon content, the physical test include bulk density, specific gravity, durability, length and diameter while the energy content include calorific value. The result shows that all the testing of pellet passes the standard except the ash content and durability. The highest ash content for 0.5mm is from bottom and top portion which is 2.59% while the lowest ash content for 0.5mm is from middle portion which is 2.4%. On the other hand, the highest ash content for 1.5mm is from top portion which is 2.21% while the lowest ash content for 1.5mm is from middle portion which is 1.96%. For durability, the highest durability for 0.5mm is from middle portion which is 97.80% while the lowest durability for 0.5mm is from bottom portion which is 93.6%. On the other hand, the highest durability for 1.5mm is from middle portion which is 96.40% while the lowest durability for 1.5mm is from bottom portion which is 87.88%. For calorific value, the highest calorific value for 0.5mm particle size is from top portion which 18.96MJ/kg while the lowest calorific value is from bottom portion which is 17.38MJ/kg. On the other hand, the highest calorific value for 1.5mm is from bottom portion which is 18.35MJ/kg while the lowest calorific value is from top portion which is 17.57MJ/kg. There is not much difference of heating value between all these portion and particle size pellet. Between all these 2 factors, the portion has significant value towards volatile matter, ash content, fixed carbon content, bulk density, specific gravity, durability and diameter. Meanwhile, the particle size has significant value towards ash content, specific gravity and durability. For correlation analysis, the portion has positive relationship towards fixed carbon content and bulk density. In contrast, the portion has negative relationship towards moisture content and volatile matter, while the particle size has negative relationship towards ash content and specific gravity.