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Treatment of empty fruit bunches for recovery of residual oil and additional steam production
Author(s) -
Jorgensen H. K.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/bf02541392
Subject(s) - bunches , refinery , pulp and paper industry , waste management , environmental science , engineering , beam (structure) , civil engineering
The fiber and shells in fresh fruit bunches (FFB) are important as fuel in a standard palm oil milling process, with the empty bunches being incinerated or mulched for fertilizer application to oil palms. However, dewatering the empty bunches in an additional pressing station can substantially enhance the available energy. Recovery of residual oil which results from the pressing of the empty bunches is an attractive economic proposition in itself, especially with the change in the composition of the fresh fruit bunches as a result of the introduction of the weevil. The resultant fibrous material serves as valuable fuel for steam generation which can be profitably used for further downstream processing, especially where a refinery is located near a palm oil mill.