**2.2 Palm oil empty fruit bunch (PEFB)**

Palm oil empty fruit bunch (PEFB) is waste residue generated from palm oil industries. After harvesting fresh fruit bunches from oil palm tree, these bunches are sterilized in a horizontal steam sterilizer to inactivate enzymes present in pericarp and loosen fruits from bunches. The sterilized bunches are fed into a rotary drum thresher in order to remove the sterilized fruit from bunches. These bunches without fruit are called as empty fruit bunch (EFB) which are conveyed to the damping ground, whereas the sterilized fruits are further used as feedstock for palm oil production in palm oil extraction process by means of screw type press. The effluents from screw type press are nuts and fibers which are separated from each other by cyclone. After this separation, nuts are cracked into shells and kernels. The former are solid waste and left unused, the latter are sent to the kernel oil mill (Mahlia et al., 2001; Prasertsan & Sajjakulnukit, 2006). It was reported that 20-22 tons of empty fruit bunch, 14 tons oil-rich fiber and 5 tons of shell are generated from 100 ton of fresh fruit bunch (Perez, 1997; Katamanee, 2006), as illustrated in Figure 6.

Source: Available from http://gardendoctor.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/elaeis\_guineensis.jpg (1 Sep 2010)

Fig. 5. Oil Palm Tree and fresh fruit bunch

Palm oil empty fruit bunch (PEFB) is waste residue generated from palm oil industries. After harvesting fresh fruit bunches from oil palm tree, these bunches are sterilized in a horizontal steam sterilizer to inactivate enzymes present in pericarp and loosen fruits from bunches. The sterilized bunches are fed into a rotary drum thresher in order to remove the sterilized fruit from bunches. These bunches without fruit are called as empty fruit bunch (EFB) which are conveyed to the damping ground, whereas the sterilized fruits are further used as feedstock for palm oil production in palm oil extraction process by means of screw type press. The effluents from screw type press are nuts and fibers which are separated from each other by cyclone. After this separation, nuts are cracked into shells and kernels. The former are solid waste and left unused, the latter are sent to the kernel oil mill (Mahlia et al., 2001; Prasertsan & Sajjakulnukit, 2006). It was reported that 20-22 tons of empty fruit bunch, 14 tons oil-rich fiber and 5 tons of shell are generated from 100 ton of fresh fruit bunch

Source: Available from http://gardendoctor.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/elaeis\_guineensis.jpg

**2.2 Palm oil empty fruit bunch (PEFB)** 

(1 Sep 2010)

Fig. 5. Oil Palm Tree and fresh fruit bunch

(Perez, 1997; Katamanee, 2006), as illustrated in Figure 6.

Source: Adapted from (Perez, 1997)

Fig. 6. Palm Oil Empty Fruit Bunch as waste from Palm mill industry

PEFB is a dry brown bunch with non-uniform shape and low bulk density. Its length and width depend on the size of fresh fruit bunch and can vary from 17-30 cm long and 25-35 cm wide.

Fig. 7. Palm Oil Empty Fruit Bunches


Elemental compositions and some properties of PEFB are different by sources of feedstock. Table 5 shows and compares proximate and ultimate analysis of PEFB from Thailand and Malaysia.

Table 5. Proximate and ultimate analysis of PEFB from different countries

From Table 5, it can be noticed that there is no significant difference in composition of PEFB by sources. Moisture content is measured to be approximately 8 % wt. based on air dried basis. Volatile matter and fix carbon varied from 73 to 80 % wt. and 8 to 12 % wt., respectively, while ash content in PEFB from Thailand is higher than ash content in PEFB from Malaysia. The chemical composition of PEFB from Thailand calculated by ultimate analysis is C3.6H6.2O1.3, whereas the chemical composition of PEFB from Malaysia is C4.1H7.3O1.3. The lower heating value of PEFB from sources is almost identical and is around 19 MJ/kg.
