Processo de transformação termoquímica da torta do mesocarpo do dendê para obtenção de biocombustíveis

Abstract

The palm oil production chain has been expanding rapidly in the northern region of Brazil, leading a large production of solid and liquid wastes. The use of these residues as raw material for the production of biofuels via thermal processing is a viable alternative to reduce the environmental impact and valorize the palm oil production chain. Among these residues is the oil palm mesocarp cake (OPMC), which represents about 25% w/w of the fruit. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of temperature on the characteristics of the products obtained through the thermochemical transformation of OPMC. The experiments have been carried out at temperatures between 150 and 550°C, using a cylindrical reactor of stainless steel of 7.5 cm in diameter and 10 cm in height, with volumetric capacity of 440 cm³, heated with electric resistance of 1.5 kW. The analyzes showed that OPMC is a lignocellulosic material with 45% cellulose, 21% hemicellulose and 34% lignin, having heating value 22.5 MJ/kg. The results showed that the yields of liquid and gas increase with increasing temperature while the solid product decreases. The liquid products presented a similarity in the composition for the different processing temperatures, however the solids had a significant increase in the fixed carbon content with the temperature. In solid products, the highest degradation rate of cellulose and hemicellulose occurred at temperatures above 250°C, with the prevalence of lignin in products obtained at higher temperature