Energy content based on oil palm fronds' potions and particle size

Abstract

This study focus on oil palm fronds studies as biofuel because it is one of primary source that is abundant and easy to sampled at study area. Hence, this study aim to reveal the calorific value of oil palm fronds with different frond portions and particle size. The bomb calorimeter AC 500 was used to measure calorific value of oil palm fronds base on ASTM D58565-07 standard. The average calorific value for three different portions fronds (bottom, middle and top) for particle size of 0.5mm were 17.12±0.06 MJ/kg, 16.88±0.12 MJ/kg, 16.25±0.08 MJ/kg respectively. On the other hand,for similar portion fronds for particle size of 1.5mm were 17.77±0.07 MJ/kg, 17.54±0.07 MJ/kg, 17.25±0.03 MJ/kg respectively. The calorific value of oil palm frond has increased from the bottom portion to the top portion for both small and big particle sizes, and the differentiation is significant (p<0.01). The high calorific value results shows the potential of consumption this material as solid fuel.