Asian Journal of Scientific Research1992-14542077-2076Asian Network for Scientific Information10.3923/ajsr.2013.197.206MoniM.N.Z. SulaimanShaharin A. 2201362Currently produced more than 40 million tons a year, only a small portion of
oil palm frond is used as domestic animals forage and as raw material in small-scale
furniture industry, while the rest is left at the plantation floor to naturally
decompose. This study introduces oil palm frond as a solid biomass fuel for
gasification to produce synthesis gas that can be utilized for heat and energy
generation in a cleaner and more efficient manner than direct combustion. Oil
palm frond was gasified in the downdraft gasifier at 700 to 1000°C reactor
temperature with a controlled air supply of 180 to 200 L min-1. The
effects of reactor temperature and operation time to the quality of syngas produced
from oil palm frond downdraft gasification were investigated. At a calorific
value around 18 MJ kg-1, oil palm frond was found to produce synthesis
gas that sustainably burnt in air with a higher heating value of around 5 MJ
N-1 m-3. Oil palm frond was found to be optimally producing
syngas with desired energy content at a reactor temperature range of 700-900°C
and within the first 45 min of gasifier operation.]]>Malaysia Palm Oil Board,20112011Abdullah, S.S. and S. Yusup,20101033013306Faizal, H.M., Z.A. Latiff, M.A. Wahid and A.N. Darus,20102010pp: 34-38pp: 34-38Wan A.I., S. Mahanim, H. Zulkafli, S. Othman and Y. Mori,20102010Abdullah, N., F. Sulaiman and H. Gerhauser,201122124Razuan, R., Q. Chen, X. Zhang, V. Sharifi and J. Swithenbank,201010146224629Atil, O.,20044014Haron, K., Z.Z. Zakaria and J.M. Anderson,2007122937Yutaka, M.,2007Nasrin, A.B., A.N. Ma, Y.M. Choo, S. Mohamad, M.H. Rohaya, A. Azali and Z. Zainal,20085179183Atnaw, S.M., S.A. Sulaiman and S. Yusup,2011610061018Sulaiman, S.A. and M.I. Anas,20127248255Baker, A.J.,19831983pp: 1425Boonmee, N. and J.G. Quintiere,200229289296Cao, Y., Y. Wang, J.T. Riley and W.P. Pan,200687343353Milne, T.A., R.J. Evans and N. Abatzoglou,19981998Kennedy, Z.R. and T.P. Lukose,20062006AllPowerLabs.,20102010Nipattummakul, N., I.I. Ahmed, A.K. Gupta and S. Kerdsuwan,20113638353843Son, Y.I., S.J. Yoon, Y.K. Kim and J.G. Lee,20113542154220Sulaiman, S.A., M.R.T. Ahmad and S.M. Atnaw,20112011pp: 10011010Debrand, S. and O.J. Hahn,19781978pp: 240251Ganan, J., A. Al-Kassir Abdulla, E.M. Cuerda Correa and A. Macias-Garcia,200687891897Khadse, A., P. Parulekar, P. Aghalayam and A. Ganesh,20062006pp: 106112Shuit, S.H., K.T. Tan, K.T. Lee and A.H. Kamaruddin,20093412251235Sivakumar, K. and N.K. Mohan,201035860Vera, D., F. Jurado and J. Carpio,20119219701979