• Clean Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.239-250
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• 2020

Biomass is an abundant renewable energy resource that can replace fossil fuels for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG). Indonesia has a large number of cheap biomass feedstocks, such as reforestation (waste wood) and palm residues (empty fruit bunch or EFB). In general, raw biomass contains more than 20% moisture and lacks calorific value, energy density, grindability, and combustion efficiency. Those properties are not acceptable fuel attributes as the conditions currently stand. Recently, torrefaction facilities, especially in European countries, have been built to upgrade raw biomass to solid fuel with high quality. In Korea, there is no significant market for torrefied solid fuel (co-firing) made of biomass residues, and only the wood pellet market presently thrives (~ 2 million ton yr-1). However, increasing demand for an upgraded solid fuel exists. In Indonesia, torrefied woody residues as co-firing fuel are economically feasible under the governmental promotion of renewable energy such as in feed-in-tariff (FIT). EFB, one of the chief palm residues, could replace coal in cement kiln when the emission trading system (ETS) and clean development mechanism (CDM) system are implemented. However, technical issues such as slagging (alkali metal) and corrosion (chlorine) should be addressed to utilize torrefied EFB at a pulverized coal boiler.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.220-225
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• 2019

During the year 2018, the symptoms of bunch rot on Shine Muscat (Vitis vinifera L.) were observed in Kimcheon-si, Gyeongbuk province in Korea. The disease appears on the Shine Muscat as a black rot due to prolific fungal sporulation after it has invaded into the Shine Muscat which look completely empty and dryness. Colonies of these fungi are present on the Shine Muscat skin from fruit setting and increase in amount from early season to harvest, while become peak at ripening stage. To isolate the causal agent, small fragments (2 to 3 mm) of decayed tissue from the lesion margin were placed onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates. Fungal colonies on PDA produced dense white aerial mycelium and then covered with dark black conidial heads. These heads were large and radiate, and vesicles were globose (2.12-32.0×2.0-3.1 ㎛). Based on morphological and cultural characteristics, this fungus was identified as Aspergillus tubingensis. To confirm its identity, the internal transcribed spacer, β-tubulin, and RNA polymerase II was sequenced for molecular identification. BLAST search indicated 99% identity with A. tubingensis. The pathogenicity test on healthy grape of Shine Muscat produced bunch rot, as the original symptoms. To select effective fungicides for the control of brunch rot, an in vitro antifungal activity of seven fungicides were evaluated against the growth of A. tubingensis. Five fungicides (dipenoconazole, tebuconazole, metconazole, iminoctadine, and captan) exhibited significantly strong suppression of the mycelial growth of A. tubingensis.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.280-291
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• 2018

Torrefaction is one of the methods to increase combustion calorific value and hydrophobicity of biomass. In this study, the effects of torrefaction on devolatilization, char reactivity and biomass structure were analyzed. Empty fruit bunch (EFB) and Kenaf biomass were used as fuels to be torrefied in the N2 environment at 200, 250 and $290^{\circ}C$. Devolatilization and char kinetics were analyzed by using TGA and biomass structure was investigated through petrography image. The reactivity showed different trends depending on the torrefaction temperature and biomass structure. The herbaceous biomass, Kenaf, was shown as high reactivity and thin wall structure. On the contrary, the woody biomass, EFB, had relatively low reactivity and thick wall structure.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.14-22
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• 2017

Co-firing of renewable fuel in coal fired boilers is an attractive option to mitigate $CO_2$ emissions, since it is a relatively low cost option for efficiently converting renewable fuel to electricity by adding biomass as partial substitute of coal. However, it would cause reducing plant efficiency and operational flexibility, and increasing operation and capital cost associated with handling and firing equipment of renewable fuels. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of biomass co-firing on $CO_2$ emission and capital/operating cost. Wood pellet, PKS (palm kernel shell), EFB (empty fruit bunch) and sludge are considered as renewable fuels for co-firing with coal. Several approaches by the co-firing ratio are chosen from previous plant demonstrations and commercial co-firing operation, and they are evaluated and discussed for $CO_2$ reduction and cost estimation.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2019

Biomass, a carbon-neutral fuel, has great advantages because it can replace fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, due to its low density, high water content, and hydrophilicity, biomass has disadvantages for transportation and storage. To improve these properties, a pretreatment process of biomass is required. One of the various pre-treatment technologies, torrefacion, makes biomass similar to coal through low-temperature pyrolysis. In this study, torrefacion treatment was carried out at 200, 230, 250, 280, and $300^{\circ}C$ for wood pellet, empty fruit bunch (EFB) and kenaf, and the feasibility of replacing coal with fuel was examined. Hygroscopicity tests were conducted to analyze the hydrophobicity of biomass, and its chemical structure changes were investigated using Infrared spectrum analysis. It was confirmed that the hygroscopicity was decreased gradually as the torrefacion temperature increased according to the hygroscopicity tests. The hydrophilicity was reduced according to the pyrolysis of hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin of biomass.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.75-83
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• 2015

The applicability of oil palm biomass, EFB(Empty Fruit Bunch) as raw materials for environmental friendly packaging material, pulp mold, was evaluated in this study. The changes in the water absorption properties of pulp mold by the addition of EFB and the surface treatments with PVA and AKD were analyzed by measuring the changes in the water absorption rate and the water contact angle. The each pulp mold sample was prepared by using laboratory wet pulp molder. And the water absorption rate of each samples were evaluated by measuring times for the absorption of a 0.1 ml water drop on the pulp mold sample surface. The addition of EFB to the pulp mold made of OCC resulted in the decrease of water absorption rate and the increase in the water contact angle. The surface treatments with PVA and AKD on the OCC pulp mold showed the significant reduction in the water absorption rate. However, in case of ONP pulp mold, the addition of EFB and the surface treatments with PVA and AKD showed no big changes in water absorption times. Those might be come from the finer surface structure of ONP pulp mold which were made of more finer and flexible fibers and more hydrophilic fibers. The results of this study showed the functional properties such as water absorption rate, could be controlled by the application of EFB and the treatments with AKD or PVA, especially in case of the OCC pulp mold.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2013

In this study, oil palm biomass such as empty fruit bunch (EFP) and palm kernel shell (PKS) was used as raw materials for making pellets. EFB and PKS are valuable lignocellulosic biomass that can be used for various purposes. If EFB and PKS are used as alternative raw materials for making pellets instead of wood, wood could be saved for making pulps or other value-added products. In order to explore their combustion characteristics, EFB and PKS were analyzed using thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA) with ultimate and proximate analyses. From the TGA results, thermal decomposition of EFB and PKS occurred in the range of 280 to $400^{\circ}C$ through devolatilization and combustion of fixed carbon. After $400^{\circ}C$, their combustion were stabilized with combustion of residual lignin and char. PKS contained more fixed carbons and less ash contents than EFB, which indicated that PKS could be more active in combustion than EFB.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.42-51
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• 2013

In this study, oil palm biomass such as empty fruit bunch (EFB) and palm kernel shell (PKS) was used as raw materials for making pellets. Hardwood sawdusts were also mixed with EFB and PKS for making pellets. For improving a bad forming behavior in a pelletizer, 1 to 3 per cent of corn starch based on oven-dried weight biomass was added. The starch contributed to the decrease of dust generation in addition to the improvement of forming capability during pellet forming. Heating values of every pellets made of EFB and PKS were higher than 4,300 kcal/kg for the first grade pellet, irrespective of addition of sawdusts. However, the pellets made of EFB and PKS had ash contents over 3 per cent, which made it impossible to be applied for home use. Instead, they could be applied for industrial use. For studying their combustion characteristics, the pellets from the mixtures of EFB, PKS and sawdusts were analyzed using thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA). From the TGA results, thermal decomposition of EFB and PKS occurred following three including endothermic reaction and dehydration, devolatilization of the major chemical components, and finally combustion of residual lignin and char.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.683-690
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• 2017

Wood pellet (WP), empty fruit bunch (EFB) and palm kernel shell (PKS) which are biomass fuels for power generation are selected to study the characteristics of torrefaction process. These biomass fuels are torrefied at $220^{\circ}C$, $250^{\circ}C$, and $280^{\circ}C$. The heating value of biomass fuels is increased depending on the torrefaction temperature. However, due to energy yield decline, it is not always desirable to torrefy biomass at higher temperature. Considering the mass yield and energy yield after torrefaction, the most proper temperature conditions for torrefaction of WP is $250-280^{\circ}C$ and for EFB, PKS are $220-250^{\circ}C$. Additionally, to investigate the phenomenons of chlorine release during torrefaction process, Ion Chromatography (IC) method was used. In the case of EFB and PKS torrefied at $300^{\circ}C$, the chlorine component has been reduced by 97.5% and 95.3% compared to the raw biomass, respectively. In conclusion, torrefied biomass can be used as alternative fuels in replacement of coals for both aspects of heating value and chlorine corrosion problems.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.61-67
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• 2015

As the production of palm oil has been increased, the generation of oil palm biomass is also increased and the utilization of the oil palm biomass become more significant topic. One third of the oil palm biomass is empty fruit bunch (EFB) and the other two thirds are oil palm trunks and fronds. However, the effective use of oil palm biomass has not been developed and most of it is discarded near oil palm plants. In this study, we investigated the applicability of EFB to the paperboard mills, as an organic filler. The new organic filler was manufactured in a laboratory by grinding and fractionating dried EFB powder, and its properties were analyzed. The particles of EFB organic filler were larger and more spherical than those of the commercial wood powder. The use of EFB organic filler resulted in a higher bulk of the handsheets with similar trends of physical strength, compared to those made with wood powder. It was concluded that EFB could be used as a raw material to manufacture organic filler for paperboard production.