Comparative Analysis of the Calorific Fuel Properties of Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber and Briquette

This study was aimed at investigating the calorific fuel properties of Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) fiber and briquette. Thermal analysis was carried out in the temperature range 30oC to 500oC at 10oC/min heating rate to determine the calorific requirement, Q and specific heat capacity, Cp,b of the EFB fuels. Calorific requirement is the total amount of heat required to raise the temperature of the feedstock to the pyrolysis peak temperature and complete the reaction. The calorific requirement for EFB and briquette was 1101.64 J/g (Cp,b = 1482.69 J/kg K) and 1080.60 J/g (Cp,b =1454.36 J/kg K) respectively, with the peak temperature of 350oC observed for EFB pyrolysis and 344oC for briquette. It was observed that physical and chemical properties such as moisture content and binder effects influenced the heating rate and heating profile of the fuels. Briquette pyrolysis was more efficient due to lower moisture content, calorific requirement and specific heat capacity. In comparison, EFB pyrolysis showed a lower ignition temperature and the tendency to yield more pyrolysis products.