Sustainable and integrated palm oil biorefinery concept with value-addition of biomass and zero emission system

Published Date
Journal of Cleaner Production
15 March 2015, Vol.91:96–99, doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.12.030

• Author 

• Ahmad Amiruddin Mohd Ali ^a
• Mohd Ridzuan Othman ^b
• Yoshihito Shirai ^a
• Mohd Ali Hassan ^b,c,,

• aDepartment of Biological Functions and Engineering, Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 2-4 Hibikino, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 808-0196, Japan
• bDepartment of Process and Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
• cDepartment of Bioprocess Technology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Received 4 April 2014. Revised 31 October 2014. Accepted 8 December 2014. Available online 16 December 2014. 

Highlights

• •
  Sustainable and integrated palm oil biorefinery with value-added biomass products.
• •
  The proposed integration creates a true zero emission system in the palm oil mill.
• •
  This win-win-win approach enables the palm oil mill to become truly sustainable.

Abstract

The problem of biomass residues and effluent from the palm oil milling process has become a big concern for the industry, the public and the environment. Furthermore, the modern palm oil mill can no longer rely solely on traditional crude palm oil and palm kernel products for profit generation. In order to remain truly sustainable in the future, we propose the solid biomass residues and liquid effluent to be managed and utilized via a biorefinery concept to generate new value-added products, in-line with zero emission system. Modern and efficient boiler and turbine systems utilizing biomass and biogas captured from the anaerobic effluent treatment can provide the steam and electricity required for the palm oil mill operations. The solid biomass residues can be channeled towards the production of value-added products such as biofertiliser, biochar, biofuels and biomaterials. The liquid final discharge can be further treated to meet river water quality, making it suitable to be recycled - hence achieving zero emission. Such an integrated approach will not only solve the issue of proper biomass disposal and effluent treatment, but also more importantly create a win-win-win situation for profit, people and planet - the three pillars of sustainability.

Keywords

Biorefinery

Oil palm biomass

Sustainability

Zero emission

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• ∗ 
  Corresponding author. Department of Process and Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

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