Mukah Balingian Research Articles

The Effect of Pretreated Palm Kernel Shell and Mukah Balingian Coal Co-gasification on Product Yield and Gaseous Composition

The Effect of Pretreated Palm Kernel Shell and Mukah Balingian Coal Co-gasification on Product Yield and Gaseous Composition

Effect on Product Yield and Tar Composition through Co-Gasification of Pretreated Palm Kernel Shell and Mukah Balingian Coal

In this study, co-gasification of palm kernel shell (PKS) and Mukah Balingian (MB) coal was carried out in a fixed bed reactor. The effect of sample pretreatment of both samples were explored via co-gasification towards product yields and tar composition. Results indicated that, pretreated blending samples produced higher gas yield with lower tar and char yield than the untreated blending samples. This was due to low moisture and oxygenated components of the pretreated samples prior to co-gasification. The tar composition of the pretreated blending samples showed increasing in the aromatic and aliphatic alkane, whereas, noticeable decreasing of phenol and carbonyl. Thus, pretreated of PKS and MB coal have prominence influence on the distribution of product yields and tar composition through co-gasification.

Influence of microwave pre-treated Palm Kernel Shell and Mukah Balingian coal on co-gasification

In this study, microwave irradiation pretreatment of palm kernel shell (PKS) and Mukah Balingian (MB) coal was carried out in a fixed bed reactor. The effect of microwave power and processing time was investigated on pretreated PKS and MB coal characteristic. Then, the co-gasification of microwave pretreated PKS and MB coal was conducted to examine the effect of product yield and gases composition. The results showed that, the characteristics of pretreated sample was improved with increasing microwave power and processing time. The volatile matter, oxygen content and O/C ratio of pretreated sample decreased, while the calorific value, fixed carbon and carbon content of pretreated sample increased with increasing microwave power. The carbon content of pretreated PKS was closed to the untreated MB coal with comparable calorific value was obtained. The microwave power level of 450 W and processing time of 8 min were appropriate to upgrade the PKS and MB coal for co-gasification. The pretreated sample produced higher gas yield and lower tar and char yield than the untreated sample during co-gasification. This result was due to low moisture and oxygenated compound of pretreated feedstock made it appropriate to be converted in co-gasification. Moreover, co-gasification of pretreated sample produced the higher H2+CO and CH4 and lower CO2 composition than untreated sample. Thus, it can be concluded that the microwave irradiation pretreatment on PKS and MB coal performed the significant impact on the product distribution and composition during the co-gasification.

Properties and thermal analysis of upgraded palm kernel shell and Mukah Balingian coal

This study describes the effect on properties of palm kernel shell (PKS) and Mukah Balingian (MB) coal by thermal pretreatment. The PKS and MB coal were torrefied and preheated, respectively in a fixed-bed reactor at different temperatures. The pretreated samples were analysed for mass and energy yield, proximate, ultimate and functional group analysis. The thermal and kinetic studies of the upgraded materials were conducted using thermogravimetric analyser (TGA). The results showed that the properties of pretreated samples were improved with increasing heating temperature. The oxygen content and O/C ratio of upgraded samples were decreased by increasing the heating temperature. The reduction of oxygenated peak in the functional group analysis indicates that the thermal pretreatment has cleaved the oxygen and hydrogen bonding. The upgraded PKS at torrefaction temperature of 270 °C demonstrated that activation energy of 100.34 kJ/mol with the highest mean reactivity of 0.86. MB coal at preheated temperature of 250 °C showed activation energy of 122.35 kJ/mol with the highest mean reactivity of 0.063. Thus, from the analysis of upgraded samples, the torrefied PKS at 270 °C and preheated MB coal at 250 °C demonstrated a good quality feedstock to be used in thermal conversion such as in co-gasification.

Optimizing the physical parameters to achieve maximum products from co-liquefaction using response surface methodology

In this study, the influence of rubber seed kernel (RSK) on Mukah Balingian (MB) coal was investigated. Co-liquefaction was performed in a tubing reactor with tetralin as the solvent at various physical parameters. The study focused on the effects of RSK weight ratio, temperature and reaction time on conversion and products distribution. This paper aims at developing an effective methodology to find the optimum conditions that maximize the co-liquefaction conversion and products by using response surface methodology (RSM). Experiments were planned as per Box-Behnken design experiments. The mathematical model for the co-liquefaction products was developed using RSM with blending the ratio of RSK, temperature, and reaction time as process parameters. The developed RSM model is to determine the optimal process conditions that affect each of the outcomes. The results of this study revealed that the proposed RSM technique managed to find the optimum physical condition, which leads to the maximum value of conversion performance.

Characteristics and Thermal Behaviour of Low Rank Malaysian Coals towards Liquefaction Performance via Thermogravimetric Analysis

In this study, thermal behaviour of two low-rank Malaysian coals namely Mukah Balingian (MB) and Batu Arang (BA) were obtained under pyrolysis conditions via Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) at a heating rate of 20°C min-1. The thermal characteristics of the coals were investigated prior to direct liquefaction in order to determine the liquefaction performance, i.e. coal conversion and oil yield. The differential weight loss (DTG) results for both coals showed that there are three main stages evolved which consists of moisture, volatile matter and heavier hydrocarbons that correspond to temperature range of 150, 200-500 and 550-800°C, respectively. Apparently, the DTG curves of BA coal reveals a similar pattern of thermal evolution profile in comparison to that of the MB coal. However, the calculated mean reactivity of BA coal is higher than that of MB, which implied that BA would probably enhance coal conversion and oil yield in comparison to MB coal. Interestingly, results showed that under the same liquefaction conditions (i.e. at 4MPa pressure and 420°C), conversion and oil yield of both coals were well correlated with their reactivity and petrofactor value obtained.

Tetralin-glycerol as Solvent in Direct Liquefaction of Mukah Balingian Coal

Coal liquefaction is a process of converting solid coal into liquid form at high temperature and pressure with the role of solvent as hydrogen donor. Tetralin is the common solvent used in this process; however its high cost made it less favourable to be utilised in industrial field. Moreover, mainly high aromatic compounds were observed in the oil produced. Therefore, introducing a less expensive solvent for coal liquefaction process is very encouraging in order to reduce the operational cost involves. The aim of this work is to investigate the potential use of mixed tetralin-glycerol as solvent on liquefaction of Mukah Balingian (MB) coal in a batchwise reactor system. Solvent ratio of tetralin-glycerol, liquefaction temperature and reaction time were varied to evaluate their effect on percent of coal conversion and oil yield. Apparently, the results obtained showed that the maximum coal conversion was obtained at 70:30 tetralin-glycerol mixed ratio regardless of reaction time with the value over 70%, whereas the highest percent of oil yield at ca. 50% was produced with 80:20 tetralin-glycerol mixed. Interestingly, GC-MS analysis of oil produced with mixed solvent showed mainly the presence of alkanes and alcohols which was not obtainable by using tetralin or glycerol alone as solvent.

Combustion characteristics of Malaysian oil palm biomass, sub-bituminous coal and their respective blends via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)

The combustion characteristics of Malaysia oil palm biomass (palm kernel shell (PKS), palm mesocarp fibre (PMF) and empty fruit bunches (EFB)), sub-bituminous coal (Mukah Balingian) and coal/biomass blends via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were investigated. Six weight ratios of coal/biomass blends were prepared and oxidised under dynamic conditions from temperature 25 to 1100°C at four heating rates. The thermogravimetric analysis demonstrated that the EFB and PKS evolved additional peak besides drying, devolatilisation and char oxidation steps during combustion. Ignition and burn out temperatures of blends were improved in comparison to coal. No interactions were observed between the coal and biomass during combustion. The apparent activation energy during this process was evaluated using iso-conversional model free kinetics which resulted in highest activation energy during combustion of PKS followed by PMF, EFB and MB coal. Blending oil palm biomass with coal reduces the apparent activation energy value.

Direct liquefaction of Mukah Balingian low‐rank Malaysian coal: optimization using response surface methodology

AbstractCoal liquefaction of low‐rank coals is of interest because of the formation of a liquid fuel with lower molecular weight and a higher H/C ratio than those of the parent coal, which itself is difficult to use. This study determined the optimum conditions for liquefaction of Mukah Balingian (MB) low‐rank Malaysian coal using a supercritical water–tetralin mixture. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite rotatable design (CCRD) was applied to optimize the combination effect of two important reaction variables, i.e. reaction temperature (° C) and solvent mixture ratios. The reaction was performed via a high‐temperature, high‐pressure batch‐wise reactor system. A total of 13 individual experiments were conducted and the results showed that the RSM based on CCRD is very applicable to the coal liquefaction process studied in this system. The predicted optimum conditions for liquefaction of MB coal was 450° C reaction temperature and 30:70 water–tetralin ratio, resulting in coal conversion and an oil yield of 70.6 and 66.1%, respectively. Copyright © 2010 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Investigation on thermochemical behaviour of low rank Malaysian coal, oil palm biomass and their blends during pyrolysis via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)

This study aims to investigate the behaviour of Malaysian sub-bituminous coal (Mukah Balingian), oil palm biomass (empty fruit bunches (EFB), kernel shell (PKS) and mesocarp fibre (PMF)) and their respective blends during pyrolysis using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The coal/palm biomass blends were prepared at six different weight ratios and experiments were carried out under dynamic conditions using nitrogen as inert gas at various heating rates to ramp the temperature from 25°C to 900°C. The derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) results show that thermal decomposition of EFB, PMF and PKS exhibit one, two and three distinct evolution profiles, respectively. Apparently, the thermal profiles of the coal/oil palm biomass blends appear to correlate with the percentage of biomass added in the blends, thus, suggesting lack of interaction between the coal and palm biomass. First-order reaction model were used to determine the kinetics parameters for the pyrolysis of coal, palm biomass and their respective blends.

Liquefaction Studies of Low-Rank Malaysian Coal Using High-Pressure High-Temperature Batch-Wise Reactor

ABSTRACT Direct liquefaction of low-rank Malaysian coal from the Mukah Balingian (MB) area was successfully carried out in a 1000 ml high-temperature (360–450°C) high-pressure (4–13 MPa) batch-wise reactor system using tetralin as hydrogen donor solvent. The results indicated that the percent coal conversion obtained were in the range of 31–90%. At optimum conditions of 450°C and 4 MPa, the oil + gas, asphaltene and preasphaltene of the coal extract were 80%, 7%, and 2%, respectively. It was observed that heat plays an important role in comparison to pressure in contributing to high coal conversion, oil yield, and organic properties of the residues. The high coal conversion and oil yield correlate well with the high content of reactive macerals, i.e., vitrinite and exinite, in the coal. Other parameters that were also investigated include the effect of reaction time (0–120 min) and coal-to-solvent ratio. A high yield of asphaltene and preasphaltene was obtained at the longest reaction time (i.e., 120 min). Coal conversion and oil yield increase with increasing in coal-to-solvent ratio, with the optimal ratio being 1:5.

99/02407 Energetic upgrading of wastes with high calorific value. Study of material characteristics in relation to their use in an industrial heat and power plant soon to be built

This study describes the effect on properties of palm kernel shell (PKS) and Mukah Balingian (MB) coal by thermal pretreatment. The PKS and MB coal were torrefied and preheated, respectively in a fixed-bed reactor at different temperatures. The pretreated samples were analysed for mass and energy yield, proximate, ultimate and functional group analysis. The thermal and kinetic studies of the upgraded materials were conducted using thermogravimetric analyser (TGA). The results showed that the properties of pretreated samples were improved with increasing heating temperature. The oxygen content and O/C ratio of upgraded samples were decreased by increasing the heating temperature. The reduction of oxygenated peak in the functional group analysis indicates that the thermal pretreatment has cleaved the oxygen and hydrogen bonding. The upgraded PKS at torrefaction temperature of 270 °C demonstrated that activation energy of 100.34 kJ/mol with the highest mean reactivity of 0.86. MB coal at preheated temperature of 250 °C showed activation energy of 122.35 kJ/mol with the highest mean reactivity of 0.063. Thus, from the analysis of upgraded samples, the torrefied PKS at 270 °C and preheated MB coal at 250 °C demonstrated a good quality feedstock to be used in thermal conversion such as in co-gasification.