| Popis: |
Khaya senegalensis is fast growing plant, can be planted in marginal land and grow easily in Malaysia. Therefore, it has the potential to be developed as dedicated energy crops. This study was conducted to determine the effect of torrefaction in upgrading the quality of Khaya senegalensis biomass. Torrefaction has been known as one of the most promising pre-treatments for biomass. In this experiment, the biomass sample was torrefied in the muffle furnace at four different temperatures (225, 250, 275 and 300°C) and three durations (30, 60 and 90 minutes). The results show that both torrefaction temperature and duration posed strong impact on the biomass quality. It was found that the volatile matters of the biomass reduce significantly as the torrefaction severity increase. On the other hand, the ash and carbon content increase with the increasing temperature and duration. Most importantly the calorific value of the biomass sample amplifies to 22.26Mj/kg from 16.11Mj/kg of untreated sample when torrefied at 300°C for 90 minutes. |
