Preliminary study on properties of small diameter wild Acacia mangium species as potential biomass energy sources

Currently, the primary energy supply in Malaysia is dominant by non-renewable energy sources
such oil, natural gas and coal which contributed to the scarcity of these sources and occurrence of
global warming. This phenomenon raises the public concerns to diversify the energy sources to
sustain energy availability. To address these predicaments, biomass sources is among the prominent
alternative energy sources since it is renewable and possesses minimal harms to the environment.
Thus, the woody plant with high growth rate and high energy content that can be used to serve as
potential biomass energy sources. In this study, small diameter (5-8cm) of wild Acacia mangium
species have been determined and compared accordingly three (3) different portions (bottom,
middle and top) and two (2) different particle sizes (0.5 and 1.5mm). The analysis conducted to
determine the properties of raw material of Acacia mangium as biomass energy sources were
proximate, physical and energy content properties. The result obtained for the energy content
analysis of small diameter wild Acacia mangium has a mean calorific value range from 16.35 to
18.35MJ/kg between portions and particle sizes. In order to determine the effect of portions and
particle sizes on each of the proximate, physical and energy content properties, two-way ANOVA
was performed. It shows that both the portions and particle sizes have significant effect on calorific
value (energy content) of small diameter wild Acacia mangium at 99% of confidence level. In a
nutshell, the biomass energy properties of small diameter wild Acacia mangium with different
portions and particle sizes were being determined.