Optimization of hydrothermal processing for banana peel waste: Enhancing solid fuel characteristics as a renewable energy source

Biomass waste is among the largest renewable energy sources in Indonesia with a potential of around 30,500 MW. In this context, solid fuel from biomass waste has great potential as an alternative to fossil energy, particularly in producing cleaner and more efficient fuel. Therefore, this research aimed to analyze the effect of variations in temperature and processing time on fuel characteristics, including water content, ash content, volatile matter, fixed carbon, and heating value using banana peel waste as raw material processed with the hydrothermal method. The results showed that the lowest calorific value of 2957 cal/gr was produced from the untreated raw material. In contrast, the optimum value of 4273 cal/gr was achieved at 220 °C with residence time of 60 min. The variation in residence time affected the solid fuel composition, while temperature influenced both calorific value and fixed carbon. At higher temperatures, moisture, volatile matter, and ash content decreased significantly by 2.63 %, 56.87 %, and 3.27 %, respectively. In conclusion, the analysis of moisture, volatile matter, ash, and fixed carbon content demonstrated the potential of banana peel waste as solid fuel comparable to sub-bituminous coal.