Effect of Elaeis guineensis Biomass Residues on the Production of Coal Pellets
Authors: Onochie UP, Egware OH, Onoroh F, Otomi OK, Onwurah C
DOI Info: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5047681
ABSTRACT
In this study, the effect of Elaeis guineensis on the production of pellets from coal was investigated. Coal and Elaeis guineensis residues were collected and pulverised. A locally fabricated screw press machine was used to produce three types of pellets in the same ratio (i.e. 80C:20R) while the fourth pellet was 100% coal. These pellets are: coal palm kernel shell (CPKS), coal palm fibre (CPF), coal empty fruit bunch (CEFB) as well as raw coal (C). Thereafter, the pellets were sundried and characterised base on ASTM Standards. These include the calorific value, proximate and ultimate analysis. From the results, it was observed that the calorific value of CPKS, CPF, CEFB and C were 28033.38 kJ/kg, 27695.4 kJ/kg, 27687.5 kJ/kg and 22021.99 kJ/kg respectively. The sulphur content of the pellets was 0.7%, 0.71%, 0.73% and 0.76% respectively. The results revealed that the 100% coal pellet has the lowest percentage CV and the highest percentage sulphur and ash content. Essentially, this study has been able to establish that elaeis guineensis residues is a good energy source for enhancing the calorific value of coal and also has the tendency of reducing the sulphur and ash contents of coal especially the PKS.
Affiliations: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Alex-Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike, Nigeria.
Keywords: Elaeis Guineensis, Coal, Pellet, Characterization, Proximate Analysis
Published date: 2021/06/30
