• Energy Research

The aim of this study is to use pyrolysis reaction to produce oil product as a fuel or chemical feedstock. The fixed bed reactor was used as a pyrolysis system. The pyrolysis reaction of residual para rubber was operated in the absence of catalyse. The operating conditions such as particle size (0.5 and 1.0 cm3) and pyrolysis temperature (500, 550 and 600 OC) were studied under N2 conditions and retention time 90 min. The result shows the para rubber size 1.0 cm3 can be produced liquid phase more than of para rubber size of 0.5 cm3. The optimised condition with the highest oil yield was at 550OC with rubber size of 1.0 cm3. The percentage of the product was 60% of liquid, 35% of gas and 5% of solid (char). Furthermore, the FTIR result can be presented the supported evidence that the transformation of aliphatic contents to be aromatic contents was increased with increased temperature. Also, GCMS analysis was used for the identification and quantification of the product. It was found 5 major products that can be used as a chemical feedstock. The maximum amount of component was 2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, diisooctyl ester (Isooctyl phthalate) with 22.08%. This is a plasticizer with higher cost than fuel.

The concept of clean technology was applied in the traditional process of using Eucalyptus globulus bark as fuel in the pulp and paper industry. The bark was investigated for its potential as a source of antioxidants by the solid–liquid extraction process before being used as fuel source. An experiment was set up to determine its antioxidant capacity and heating value. Volatile components of the extracts were also identified and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The experimental results suggested that ethanol extraction solution at a ratio of 1:20 yielded the highest content of phenolic compounds (674.19 mg of gallic acid/l) and antioxidant capacity (30.53 ± 1.76 mg/l). We also examined and compared the fuel properties of extracted and unextracted bark, and it was found that the fuel properties of extracted and unextracted bark showed no significant difference. These findings suggested that the bark can be put to a better use by extracting the compounds before being ultimately used as fuel source in the traditional process. This might lead to an alternative process for the pulp and paper industry in which the standard process is maintained to obtain the desired products, with the additional extraction process to obtain high-value compounds.

Abstract This study presents a development of biogas purification system using Calcium Hydroxide and Amine solution. The liquid spray absorption tower was used to purify the biogas from layer chicken manure. The solution used in the experiment were 5 types which were 1) pure water 2) Calcium hydroxide 0.1 mol, 3) Calcium hydroxide 0.2 mol, 4) Mono Ethanol Amine (MEA) 0.1 mol and 5) Mono Ethanol Amine (MEA) 0.2 mol. The flow rate of the biogas was set at 5, 10 and 15 l/min and the flow rate of solution was varied by 10, 20 and 30 l/min. The time for experiment was set at 30 minutes for each solution and flow rate. The biogas composition was measured before and after biogas purification in order to test the efficiency of this purification system. From the experiment, it was found that the average ratio of methane and carbon dioxide in biogas was 51.00% and 39.36%, respectively. The most effective solution for biogas purification was Calcium Hydroxide 0.2 mol which can give a maximum ratio of methane at 89.30% at solution flow rate of 30 l/min and biogas flow rate of 5 l/min. The results revealed that the biogas flow rates, types of solution, the solution flow rates and concentration of the solutions were affected to biogas purification.

This paper reports results of a research project which attempts to produce low-cost activated carbon from agro-residue wastes. The ground coffee residue which is a by-product of coffee making was collected from coffee shops, prepared, and converted to activated carbon by a chemical activation method. The objective of this work is to investigate the effects of preparation conditions on properties of the activated carbon obtained. The preparation condition is defined by pyrolysis rate, concentration of ZnCl2, impregnation time, and carbonization temperature. The pyrolysis rate was fixed at 10 °C min−1 for 4 h with three concentrations of ZnCl2 (5, 10, and 15 wt%), three durations of impregnation time (8, 12, and 24 h), and three carbonization temperatures (400, 450, and 500 °C). The morphology and specific surface area were, respectively, determined using SEM and BET techniques. It was found in this study that the activated carbon with the best properties was obtained at the preparation condition given by 15 wt% of ZnCl2, impregnation time of 24 h, and 500 °C carbonization temperature. On average, the activated carbon had a pore diameter of 0.61 nm, specific surface area of 831 m2 g−1, and a total pore volume of 0.44 cm3 g−1. It was also found that the adsorption isotherm of Cu (II) fitted well with Freundlich isotherm.

In previous work, Saccharomycescerevisiae TISTR 5596 could produce bioethanol in the strength condition. Thus, this work was examined to understand effect of sulfuric acid on hydrolysis of synthetic cellulose and sorghum straw. The ethanol fermentation of S.cerevisiae TISTR 5596 of the products from the hydrolysis was also determined. The results showed the maximum amount of sugar from hydrolysis reaction of synthetic cellulose in 5%v/v sulfuric acid which are analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography which has yield 28 g/L and 25.46 g/L for the maximum amount of sugar form hydrolysis of sorghum straw in 3%v/v sulfuric acid. Furthermore, the ethanol fermentation at 30°C for 25 hrs with hydrolysis of the synthetic cellulose and sorghum straw was determined by gas chromatography. S.cerevisiae TISTR 5596 can produce 9.021 g/L of ethanol or 32.89% of initial sugar concentration at 28 g/L for fermented at 30°C for 25 hrs. and 1.8 g/L or 22.52% of initial sugar concentration at 25.46 g/L at 30°C for 40 hrs, for extracted samples from synthetic cellulose and sorghum straw, respectively.

AbstractAn UASB system is anaerobic wastewater treatment that produces biogas with low operation cost. The main problem of this process is operating at temperatures below 25OC which occurs in the winter season in Thailand. The aim of this work was to improve the efficiency of UASB system by mixing water condensate from electrical power plant with sugar influent before delivery to UASB reactor. The optimized temperature was investigated. The result shows the efficiency of VFA and COD removal was obtained ca. 92% with temperature at 29-40°C. The maximum methane production (0.38 m3CH4/kgCOD) has higher than design parameters about 27.51% at 40OC. The methane production is reduced when the operating temperature is higher than 40OC. Furthermore, the UASB could be considered for decreasing LPG cost in sugar refinery process.

AbstractSugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) and corn (Zea mays, Linn.) is widely planted in Thailand. The pyrolysis process has been carried out in thermochemical processing of organic decomposition of biomass to increase the value of the biomass. The aim of this study was to research the probability of sugarcane leaves and corn stover for pyrolysis process. The proximate analysis results indicate that corn stover has a volatile content higher than sugarcane leaves. Sugarcane leaves have a higher ash content than corn stover. The heating value was obtained 14.47 and 20.91MJ/kg for sugarcane leaves and corn stover, respectively. TGA results show 4 stages: dehydration, active pyrolysis passive pyrolysis and completed combustion stage. Furthermore, the thermal degradation of biomass could be considered an optimization of temperature for pyrolysis process.