BIO-OIL AND BIO-HYDROGEN PRODUCTION USING RED MUD CATALYST FROM OIL PALM BIOMASS WASTE

Indonesia produces solid waste from oil palm plantations that have the potential to produce bio-oil and hydrogen in the context of sustainable energy development.This paper reports on the utilisation of biomass as bio-oil and bio-hydrogen producer by catalytic pyrolysis using solid waste from the aluminium industry as a catalyst.Catalytic pyrolysis was carried out in a fixed-bed reactor with varying temperatures.Three types of oil palm biomass were subjected to pyrolysis and catalytic pyrolysis to obtain hydrogen-rich gas products at various temperatures and flow rates.The products were characterised using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).The results showed that the yields of bio-oil and bio-hydrogen obtained from oil palm biomass varied in the range of 18-40 wt.% and 23-37 wt.% respectively.The liquid product from catalytic pyrolysis of palm biomass using red mud (RM) catalyst contains primary oxygenate compounds such as acids, aromatics and esters.