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SURAINI ABD-AZIZ

MOHD ALI HASSAN

UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

BIOMASS R&D ACTIVITIES IN MALAYSIA

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INTRODUCTION What is Biomass?

Agricultural crops e.g. sugarcane, cassava, corn

Agricultural residues e.g. rice straw, cassava rhizome,

corncobs

Wood & wood residues e.g. fast-growing

trees, wood waste from wood mill

Waste stream e.g. rice husksfrom rice mills, molasses & bagasse

from sugar refineries, residues from

palm oil mills, MSW

Organic matter available on renewable basis

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Biomass as an Alternative ?

Shifting of paradigm towards biomass Renewable energy Sustainable Environmentally friendly

Abundant

Untapped energy

Uncertainties of biomass

Technological proven ? Economically feasible ? Constant supply ? (quality and quantity) Availability & distribution ? (worldwide)

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Biomass in Malaysia

Biomass by-products with no or low profit

generated from agricultural or industrialprocesses

Main sources of biomass in Malaysia Domestic wastes (MSW) Agricultural residues Animal wastes

Effluent sludge/wastewater

Wood chips

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Most abundant in Malaysia(> 70 million tonnes annually)

Production of biomassthroughout the year

Main contributor of biomass

palm oil industry

Oil Palm Empty fruitbunches (OPEFB)

Palm oil mill effluent (POME)

Mesocarp fiber

Palm kernel shells

Palm kernel cake (residue)

Mainly ligno-cellulosicmaterials

Palm Oil

94%

Rice 1%

Sugarcane

1%

Wood

industry

4%

Biomass resources: Agricultural residues

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Palm Oil Industry: Biomass

Biomass production (2007)

Empty fruit bunch (EFB)15 million tonnes

Palm kernel shell - 8 million tonnes

Mesocarp fiber5 million tonnes

Abundant and concentrated in the mills(business as usual)

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New Business and Products from Palm Biomass

Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch16 million t/yr

Palm Oil Mill Effluent50 million t/yr

Standardised biomass availablebusiness as usual

Sugars

Bioplastic (PLA)or Bioethanol

Pre-treatment andSaccharification

Fermentation inbioreactors

Biomass Energy

Bio-acids

Bioplastic(PHA)Biogas, CH4 (+ Biohydrogen)

zero emission

waste-to-wealth

+ water recyclingCompost

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Adding Value to Palm Biomass

Paradigm shift towards biomass Not waste

Renewable

Sustainable

Under-utilised resource

Uncertainties of biomass Technological proven ? Economically feasible ?

Quality and quantity ?

Availability & distribution ?

value chain fine chemicals

food

fiber

feed

fuel

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Thermal conversion: Biomass

Thermal conversion of biomass

Mainly in power/electricity generation

Commercially used in the industries

Palm oil millsboilers and steam turbines

Landfillsmethane combustion

Technology proven and high demand forenergy

Low efficiency boiler systemmeant forwaste disposal in the mill

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Biological conversion : CH4 Generation

Collaborative PartnersUniversiti Putra Malaysia,Kyushu Institute ofTechnology, FELDA PalmIndustries & Sumitomo Heavy

IndustriesCH4 generation from POMEanaerobic treatment

Pilot plant operation - 500 m3improved design methanetank, POME holding tank,

settling tank, gas scrubber,gas storage tank

Conversion into electricityusing gas engine

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PHASE 1

Methane Tank

NaOH Tank

Raw POME

Discharge

Gas Stack

PHASE 2

Gas Storage Tank

Gas Scrubber

Gas Utilization

POME Storage

Sludge Recycle

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Biological Conversion : Organic Acids

Collaborative partnersUPM, FELDA, KIT

Established fermentation technology of organicacids from POME anaerobic treatment

Production of acetic, propionic and butyric acids

Up scaling the process to pilot plant operation

PURIFIED ORGANIC ACIDSANAEROBIC TREATMENTRAW POME

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Biological Conversion : Bioplastics

Collaborative Partners - UPM, FELDA, KIT

Utilization of acetic, propionic and butyric acids from POME

Fermentation of organic acids into poly-hydroxyalkanoates

The whole process will utilize excess energy from biogas plant

Current stage

Distillation of organic acids and downstreamprocessing of PHA

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Biological Conversion : Bio-compost

Organic compost was successfully produced using POMEsludge, shredded EFB, MSW and domestic sewage sludgeGood properties such as pH 6-8, C/N 15 and comply to USEPAstandardsPerformance was comparable with commercial composts

Suitable for vegetables and ornamental plantsCommercially available

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Biological Conversion : Animal Feed

Palm-based feedstock: Oil palm fronds with added nutrient supplements Palm press fiber Palm kernel cake

POME sludge

Sago-based feedstock: Pith residue (starch)

Most of the feedstocks from palm-based and sago-based are commercially available

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Biological Conversion : Others

New developments:

Enzyme production by SSF (cellulase,amylase)

Cellulosic bioethanol/biobutanol

Biohydrogen

Acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE)

Mushroom cultivation

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Municipal Solid Waste : Biomass

Malaysia generates anestimated 20,000 tons ofsolid waste per day

The life span of landfills :510 years only,

80% of current landfills willbe closed in two years

Non biodegradable plasticsis widely used insupermarkets

Malaysian governmentrecognizes the importanceof preserving theenvironment by promotingrecycling (3R)

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Municipal Solid Waste : Biomass

Energy (methane) forpower/ electricitygeneration 1st Independent Power

Producer operating at

Ayer Hitam Landfill, 2MWChemicals Organic acids

productionlactic,

acetic, propionic andbutyric acids BioplasticsPHA or

poly-lactateFertilizerBio-compost

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Liquid WasteOrganic Acid

Mixture

Solid Waste

ConcentrateOrganic Acid

BIO-REACTORS

Organic Waste

FILTER & PRESSSEPARATOR COMPOSTING SYSTEM

DRYER

EVAPORATOR

Organic Acid Liquid

FRACTIONALDISTILLER

FILTER

DRYERPHA

ZeoliteBacteria

NaOHTANK

Lactic Acid COMPOST

NaOH

BOILER

Water

Acetic Acid & Propionic Acids

Organic Acid Mixture

Solid Waste

Water

Diesel

BIO-REACTORS

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Challenges : Biomass Utilization

Biomass has great potential as renewable resourcesTwo major problems: Technological shortcomings in realization of

fermentable products from biomass

Complex and sensitive system (biologicalagents)Production of several products in a singleprocessComplexity in downstream processing

Socio-economics

Not competitive compared to fossil fuelsAccountability in pollution and globalwarmingSustainability of process and technology

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Outlook : Biomass Utilization

Malaysia has great potential in biomass utilizationas renewable resourcesSignificant reduction in GHG emission to achieve sustainable development via

quantification of emission limitation andreduction of GHG under Kyoto Protocol Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects

generate Certified Emission Reduction (CER) forsale or export

The CER can be used towards developed nationscommitments to mitigate their GHG emissionsBiomass utilization promises sustainabledevelopment of both the industry and environment

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Acknowledgements

Universiti Putera MalaysiaKyushu Institute of Technology, JapanJICAJSPS

FELDAMOSTI, Malaysia