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The effect of catalysts on the production of aldehyde / carbonyl containing .... komponen aldehid dan keton yang memberi kesan dalam kestabilan terma atau.
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THE DIRECT AND CATALYTIC PYROLYSIS OF RICE STRAW

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RAZI BIN AHMAD

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA PERLIS 2010

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA PERLIS DECLARATION OF THESIS :

RAZI BIN AHMAD

Date of birth

:

30 DECEMBER 1980

Title

:

THE DIRECT AND CATALYTIC PYROLYSIS OF RICE STRAW

Academic Session

:

2009 / 2010

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Author’s full name

(Contains confidential information under the Official Secret Act 1972)*

RESTRICTED

(Contains restricted information as specified by the organization where research was done)*

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I agree that my thesis is to be made immediately available as hard copy or on-line open access (full text)

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OPEN ACCESS

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CONFIDENTIAL

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I hereby declare that the thesis becomes the property of Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) and to be placed at the library of UniMAP. This thesis is classified as :

Certified by:

_________________________ SIGNATURE

_________________________________ SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR

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I, the author, give permission to the UniMAP to reproduce this thesis in whole or in part for the purpose of research or academic exchange only (except during a period of _____ years, if so requested above).

801230-09-5069 (NEW IC NO. / PASSPORT NO.) Date :_________________

EN. KHAIRUDDIN BIN MD ISA NAME OF SUPERVISOR Date : _________________

NOTES : * If the thesis is CONFIDENTIAL or RESTRICTED, please attach with the letter from the organization with period and reasons for confidentially or restriction.

DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to my beloved wife, Farra Nur Hani for her full support and

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encouragement during this journey and to my children Haifaa Nur Saffiya, Thaqif Iman

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Nafis and Hasyaa Nur Saffina for appreciating and understanding me.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my grateful to Allah S.W.T. for all His gifts that

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this thesis was completed on time. This thesis also dedicated to my dear family with all

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their pray, patience and full support that encourage me to go through the obstacle to complete my thesis.

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I would like to thank to UniMAP for providing study leave during this study period.

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I wish to acknowledge my sincere to my supervisor Mr. Khairuddin Md Isa, my co-

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supervisor Prof. Dr. Khudzir Ismail (Director of UiTM Perlis Campus) and Dr. Khairul

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Nizar Ismail for their supervision, guidance and encouragement throughout the course of

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the research.

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I also would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Ye Lwin, my ex-supervisor and Mr

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Saiful Azhar Saad and Pn. Naimah Ibrahim, my ex-co supervisor for many useful

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discussion and suggestions during early stage of this research. I also would like to express

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my gratitude to all lecturers, teaching engineers especially Mr. Nazerry, Mr. Zulzikrami,

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Mr. Roshasmawi and Mr. Munif, technicians especially Mr. Khairul, Mr Shukri and Mr.

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Andi and management staff at School of Environmental Engineering, UniMAP for their support.

I also wish to thanks all of staff and postgraduate student of Fossil Fuels and Biomass Research Laboratory, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Perlis for their helping during my experiment. Finally, I would like to thank everyone that has been involved in this project directly or indirectly for their help and contribution. Thank you very much. iv

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RAZI BIN AHMAD (0631210121)

A thesis submitted In fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Environmental Engineering)

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THE DIRECT AND CATALYTIC PYROLYSIS OF RICE STRAW

School of Environmental Engineering UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA PERLIS 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENT

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APPROVAL AND DECLARATION SHEET DEDICATION

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES

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LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF PLATES LIST OF APPENDICES

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LIST OF SYMBOLS

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

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ABSTRAK

iv v viii x xii xiii xiv xv xvi xvii

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ABSTRACT

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Research Background

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1.1

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Abundance of Rice Straw in Malaysia

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1.3

Problem Statements

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1.4

Scope of the Research

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1.5

Objectives of the Research

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1.2

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1

Introduction

10

2.2

Biomass

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2.3

2.2.1

Structure and Component of Biomass

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2.2.2

Pysical Properties and Composition of Biomass

13

Thermal Conversion

14

v

2.3.1

Overview of Thermal Conversion

14

2.3.2

Pyrolysis

15

Thermal Decomposition of Biomass / Thermogravimetric Analysis

17

2.5

Influence of Pyrolysis Process Parameter on Product Yields

19

2.5.1

Pyrolysis Temperature and Heating Rate

19

2.5.2

Sweeping Gas / Nitrogen Flow Rate

2.5.3

Particle Size

Gases from Biomass Pyrolysis

2.6.2

Char from Biomass Pyrolysis

2.6.3

Liquid / Bio-oil Product

Catalytic Pyrolysis

2.8

Optimization

3.0

METHODOLOGY

3.1

Introduction

3.2

Materials

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Biomass

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Catalyst

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Characterization of Biomass

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3.3

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3.2.2

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Pyrolysis Product

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2.4

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3.3.1

Ultimate Analysis

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3.3.2

Proximate Analysis

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3.3.3

Calorific Value

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3.4

Thermogravimetric Analysis

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3.5

Pyrolysis of Biomass

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3.5.1

Experimental Device

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3.5.2

Experimental Method

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3.6

Design of Experiment

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3.7

Catalytic Pyrolysis of Biomass

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3.8

Analysis of Pyrolysis Product

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3.8.1

Physical Property Analysis

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3.8.2

Elemental Analysis

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3.8.3

Functional Group Analysis

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3.8.4

Chromatographic Analysis

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3.8.5

Gas Analysis

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1

Properties of Raw Material

4.2

Characterization of Catalyst Dolomite catalyst

4.2.2

Properties of Zeolite ZSM-5 Catalyst

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4.2.1

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4.0

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Thermogravimetic Analysis of Rice Straw

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4.4

Effect of Pyrolysis Parameter on the Yields of Pyrolysis Product

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4.4.1

Effect of Pyrolysis Temperature

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4.4.2

Effect of Heating Rate

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4.4.3

Effect of Holding Time

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Statistical Analysis

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4.6

Optimization Analysis

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4.7

Catalytic Pyrolysis

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4.8

Non-catalytic Pyrolysis Product Characterization

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4.8.1

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FTIR Analysis

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4.9

5.0

Gas Chromatography Analysis

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Catalytic Pyrolysis Product Characterization

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4.9.1

Effect of Elemental Composition

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4.9.2

FTIR Analysis

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4.9.3

GC-MS Analysis of the Bio-oil

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4.9.4

Gas Analysis

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CONCLUSION AND FUTURE STUDIES

5.1

Conclusion

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5.2

Future Work

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REFERENCES

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LIST OF TABLES

TABLE

PAGE

Biomass conversion with different thermal conversion technology

1.2

Malaysian Paddy Biomass Production

2.1

Typical composition of different biomass species

3.1

Experimental ranges and levels of independent variables or factors

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3.2

Central composite design of independent variables for process

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optimization

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Characteristic of the rice straw

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4.2

XRF analysis results of the compositions of dolomite

4.3

Composition of zeolite ZSM-5 catalyst

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4.1

4.5

The specifications of zeolite ZSM-5 catalyst according to the

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manufacturer

Central composite design matrix measured and predicted response of

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oil yield

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4.4

4.6

ANOVA for the regression model and respective model term for

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bio-oil yield

4.7

Elemental composition of bio-oil and char from pyrolysis of rice straw

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4.8

FTIR functional groups and the compounds of rice straw pyrolysis

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Elemental composition of bio-oil obtained by non-catalytic and catalytic pyrolysis of rice straw

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oil

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80

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURES

Schematic of generation and use of biomass illustrating closed

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elemental cycles

Products from thermal biomass conversion

2.2

Applications for products of fast pyrolysis

3.1

Flow chart of the experimental stages

3.2

Diagram of pyrolysis reactor system

3.3

Arrangement of the catalyst inside the reactor tube

4.1

(a) TG and (b) DTG profiles for the thermal decomposition rice

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Effect of temperature on the yields of pyrolysis product

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4.3

Effect of heating rate on pyrolysis product yields

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4.4

Effect of holding time on the yields of pyrolysis product

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4.5

Relationship between predicted and actual values of conversion of

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2.1

straw

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PAGE

bio-oil yield.

4.6

Single factor plot of pyrolysis temperature vs oil yield

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4.7

Single factor plot of heating rate vs oil yield

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4.8

Single factor plot of holding time vs oil yield

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4.9

Effect of catalyst (physical mixing with rice straw) on product

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distribution

Effect of catalyst (catalyst bed) on product distribution

4.11

FTIR spectra of bio-oil product from rice straw

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4.12

GC chromatogram of the bio-oil from pyrolysis of rice straw

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4.13

FTIR spectra comparison between non-catalytic pyrolysis and

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4.10

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catalytic pyrolysis with zeolite ZSM-5

FTIR spectra comparison between non-catalytic pyrolysis and

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catalytic pyrolysis with dolomite

The effect of catalysts on the production of phenol compound

4.16

The effect of catalysts on the production of aldehyde / carbonyl

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containing hydroxyl group

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4.17

The effect of catalysts on the production of ketones / carbonyls

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containing containing hydroxyl group

4.18

The effect of catalysts on the production of carboxylic acid

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4.19

Hydrocarbon gases composition vs. pyrolysis temperature

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4.20

Carbon dioxide (CO2) composition vs. pyrolysis temperature

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4.21

Carbon monoxide (CO) composition vs. pyrolysis temperature

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LIST OF PLATES

PLATES

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3.2

Photo of Elemental Analyser, Series II CHNS/O 2400

3.3

CAL2k Calorimeter System

3.4

Photo of Thermogravimetric Analyzer TGA/DSC 1

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Photo of XRF Model PANanalytical miniPAL 4

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Mettler Toledo

Photo of Catatest Reactor System / Pyrolysis Reactor

3.6

Photo of FTIR instrument of model Spectrum 400

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FT-IR/FT-NIR Spectrometer

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Photo of portable gas analyzer

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3.8

Photo of Claurus 800 Gas Chromatography

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3.7

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LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX

GC-MS chromatogram of bio-oil obtained by pyrolysis of rice

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straw

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GC-MS chromatogram of bio-oil obtained by catalytic pyrolysis of

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rice straw with dolomite

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GC-MS chromatogram of bio-oil obtained by catalytic pyrolysis of

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rice straw with zeolite ZSM-5

Comparison of GC-MS result between non-catalytic pyrolysis of

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rice straw and catalytic pyrolysis of rice straw with dolomite

Comparison of GC-MS result between non-catalytic pyrolysis of

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rice straw and catalytic pyrolysis of rice straw with zeolite ZSM-5

Publication and Accomplishment

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114

LIST OF SYMBOLS

Percent

wt %

Weight percent

Y

Response

R2

determination coefficient

T

transmittence

βo

constant coefficient

βi ,

coefficient for the linear

βii

coefficient for the quadratic

βij

coefficient for the interaction effect

χi

factors

ε

error.

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%

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

American Society for Testing and Materials Standard

ANOVA

Analysis of variance

ATR

Attenuated Total Reflection

BET

Brunauer Emmett Teller

CaCO3

Calcium carbonate

CCRD

Central composite rotatable design

CO2

Carbon dioxide

CV

Coefficient of variation

DOE

Design of Expert

DTG

Differential thermogravimetric

FID

Flame Ionization Detector

FTIR

Fourier Transform Infrared

GC

Gas Chromatography

H2O

Water

MgO

Magnesium oxide

NOX

Nitrogen oxide

O2

Oxygen

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Response surface methodology

SiO2

Silica oxide

SO2

Sulfur Dioxide

TGA

Thermogravimetric analysis

XRF

X-ray Fluorescent

ZSM-5

Zeolite Socony Mobile-5

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Rice straw

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RS RSM

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ASTM

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Pirolisis dan Pirolisis Bermangkin ke atas Jerami Padi

ABSTRAK

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Kajian pirolisis bermangkin ke atas jerami padi telah dijalankan di dalam reaktor lapisan terpadat. Objektif penyelidikan ini adalah untuk mengkaji kesan parameter pirolisis iaitu suhu pirolisis, kadar pemanasan dan jangka masa pada suhu capaian pirolisis ke atas taburan hasil produk pirolisis. Proses pengoptimuman telah dianalisis dengan menggunakan CCRD di dalam kaedah permukaan respons. Zeolit ZSM-5 dan dolomit merupakan pemangkin yang digunakan dalam penyelidikan ini. Pirolisis bermangkin telah dilaksanakan berdasarkan keadaan optimum penghasilan minyak bio. Ciri-ciri hasil produk pirolisis diantara tidak bermangkin dan bermangkin telah dikenalpasti melalui kaedah elemen, spekstroskopik dan kromatografik. Analisis termogravimetrik telah dijalankan untuk mengaji penguraian termal terhadap jerami padi. Melalui proses pirolisis, pada kadar pemanasan yang rendah, didapati hasil pepejal adalah tinggi, manakala penghasilan gas adalah tinggi pada suhu yang tinggi dan masa pirolisis yang panjang. Nilai eksperimen penghasilan minyak bio yang optimum adalah 27.62% berbanding nilai simulasi iaitu 27.87% telah diperolehi pada suhu pirolisis 450 oC, kadar pemanasan 77.63 oC/min dan jangka masa pada suhu capaian pirolisis selama 2.61 min dengan menggunakan proses pengoptimuman melalui perisian DOE. Kajian ciri-ciri kimia terhadap minyak bio yang tidak melalui proses permangkinan didapati mengandungi kandungan komponen karbonil dan beroksigen dalam kuantiti yang banyak. Ini menyebabkan kandungan oksigen yang tinggi dalam komposisi elemen dan juga mengurangkan nilai pH. Penggunaan zeolit ZSM5 dan dolomit menyebabkan peningkatan dalam hasil gas dan pengurangan dalam hasil cecair. Kehadiran pemangkin memberi telah memberi kesan terhadap hasil produk dan kualiti minyak bio. Perubahan yang besar terhadap kualiti produk cecair adalah melalui peningkatan kandungan fenol (bahan kimia yang bernilai) dan pengurangan beberapa komponen asid (komponen yang tidak diperlukan) dalam minyak bio. Pemangkin dolomit juga memberi kesan lebih baik berbanding zeolit ZSM-5 ke atas penyingkiran beberapa komponen aldehid dan keton yang memberi kesan dalam kestabilan terma atau penyimpanan. Kesan zeolit ZSM-5 dan dolomit dalam penyelidikan ini adalah ketara dalam aspek kualiti berbanding aspek kuantiti ke atas cecair atau minyak bio yang dihasilkan.

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The Direct and Catalytic Pyrolysis of Rice Straw

ABSTRACT

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A study of the catalytic pyrolysis on rice straw was carried out in a fixed-bed reactor. The work objectives were to determine the influences of pyrolysis parameters i.e pyrolysis temperature, heating rate and holding time on distribution of product yield. The optimization process was analyzed by employing central composite rotatable design (CCRD) in response surface methodology (RSM). The catalysts used in this research were zeolite ZSM-5 and dolomite. The catalytic pyrolysis was carried out based on optimized condition of bio-oil yield. The characterization of pyrolysis product between non-catalytic and catalytic pyrolysis were investigated, by elemental, spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques. The char yield produced from pyrolysis process was high at low heating rates, while the gas yield produced was high at higher temperature and longer holding time. The experimental value of the optimum bio-oil yield was 27.62% as compared to the predicted value which bio-oil yield was 27.87% at pyrolysis temperature of 450 oC, heating rate of 77.63 oC/min and holding time of 2.61 min by using optimization process in the Design Expert (DOE) software. The chemical characterization studies of uncatalysed bio-oil derived from pyrolysis of rice straw contained considerable amounts of carbonyl and oxygenated compound, resulting in higher oxygen content in elemental composition and low pH value. Used of zeolites ZSM-5 and dolomite caused an increase in gas yields and a decrease in bio-oil yields. The product yields and the quality of the produced bio-oil were affected by the used of catalyst. The major improvement in the quality of liquid product with the use of catalyst was the increase of phenol concentration (useful chemicals) and the reduction of some corrosive acids which are undesirable compound in bio-oil. Dolomite catalyst having the most impacts than zeolite ZSM-5 in removing some of aldehyde and ketone compounds which are responsible for the thermal or storage stability. The influence of the zeolite ZSM-5 and dolomite catalyst used in this study caused only enhancement of liquid production in terms of quality but not the bio-oil produced.

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CHAPTER 1

Research Background

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1.1

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INTRODUCTION

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In recent years, there is a great concern with the environmental problems associated with the great CO2, NOx and SOx emissions resulting from the rising use of fossil fuels.

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World wide energy consumption has increased 17 fold in the last century and emissions

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CO2, SO2, and NOx from fossil fuel combustion are primary cause of atmospheric pollution

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(Ture et al., 1997). For this reason, biomass energy is being paid more attention for

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renewable energy. Biomass is abundant in annual production, with a geographically

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widespread distribution in the world, compared with other renewable energy resources as

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hydropower, geothermal, solar, wind etc (Kaygusuz, 2004).

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Biomass feedstock including wood, industrial and agricultural residue and by

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products (e.g., sawdust, wood chip, bagasse and rice husk) or dedicated energy crops (e.g.,

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fast growing trees, shrubs and grass) usually applied as biomass fuels. There are significant interests because biomass is the fourth largest source of energy in the world, accounting for about 15% of the world’s primary energy consumption and about 38% of the primary energy consumption in developing countries (Chen et al., 2003). Biomass offers the attractive advantages of being renewable resources and has the potential to provide high quality fuels and chemicals feedstock. Biomass appears to be an attractive feedstock for three main reasons. First, it is renewable resources that can be sustainable developed in the 1

future. Second, it appears to have significant economic potential provided that fossil fuel prices increase in the future. Third, it appears to have clearly positive environmental properties resulting in no net releases of carbon dioxide and very low sulfur content

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(Cadenas and Cabezudo, 1998).

The reason interests in using biomass for energy are the net contribution of carbon

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dioxide to atmospheric pollution is considered to be nil. Combustion of biomass is an example of sustainable technology, as combustion releases carbon dioxide in the

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atmosphere and therefore does not seem to close the material cycles. While the combustion

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does release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the growth of biomass consumed carbon

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dioxide. As can be seen from Figure 1.1, the final result of biomass conversion is that there

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is no net release or consumption of carbon dioxide if the biomass is replenished. Consider

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the example that a certain unit of active biomass absorbs one unit of carbon dioxide per unit

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time while growing. If one unit of this biomass is combusted, thus releasing one unit of

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carbon dioxide, the result is that there is no net increase or decrease in carbon dioxide

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emission (Arons et al., 2004).

Presently, new technologies for efficient waste utilization have been developed,

such as biological process and non-biological conversion. The biological process or the wet process led to the anaerobic methane generation or the ethanol fermentation production. The non-biological, or dry process, is mainly of the thermal processes. Over the past two decades, the thermal conversion technology has gained much attention worldwide due to its potential in the conversion of wastes into energy in a large scale and economical way (Bridgwater, 2004). 2

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Solar energy

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Growth of biomass

Biomass

Use of biomass

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CO2, N- compounds etc

closed elemental cycles (Arons et al., 2004)

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Figure 1.1: Schematic of generation and use of biomass illustrating

There are three main thermal processes of converting solid wastes into energy;

pyrolysis, gasification and combustion. Each process gives different range of products. The primary products from thermal conversion processes can be either gas, liquid or solid. These products can be used directly as raw fuel, or they can be subjected to further treatment and processes to produce secondary products such as higher value and quality fuel or chemical products. In pyrolysis process, when the components were quickly quenched, the volatile components condensed to bio-oil. Xiu et al. (2005) reported that the 3

bio-oil can be alternative for fuel oil in many static applications including boilers, combustion engines and turbine for the generation of electricity. Table 1.1 shows the

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conversion of biomass with different thermal conversion technology.

Biomass

Type of thermal

Products

References

Pyrolysis

Bio-oil, char, gas

Wang et al. (2010)

Birch

Gasification

Gas, tar

Yu et al. (2009)

Wood

Combustion

Heat

Bridgwater, 2004

Wheat straw

Liquefaction

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Herb residue

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conversion

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Table 1.1: Biomass conversion with different thermal conversion technology

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Past and current economic growths of Malaysia have been primarily energized by

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fossil fuels. Malaysia has very substantial potential for biomass energy utilization given its

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equatorial climate that is ideal for dense tropical forest growth and agricultural vegetation.

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There are six major sectors contributing wastes to biomass energy in Malaysia: forestry

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(wood products), rubber cultivation, cocoa cultivation, sugar cane cultivation, paddy

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cultivation and oil palm cultivation (Chuah et al., 2006).

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1.2

Abundance of Rice Straw in Malaysia

Rice straw is one of the abundant lignocelluloses waste materials in the world.

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Ninety percent of the world’s production is in the developing countries of East and

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Southeast Asia where the straw is a main feed for ruminants (Soest, 2006). Rice straw is a lignocelluloses agricultural by-product containing cellulose (37.4%), hemi-cellulose

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(44.9%), lignin (4.9%) and silicon ash (13.1%) (Hills and Roberts, 1981). The estimation on annual production of rice by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) points to about

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600 million tones per year in 2004. On the other hand, Maiorella (1985) reported that every

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kilogram of grain harvested is accompanied by production of 1 to 1.5 kg of rice straw. Lee

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et al. (2005) reported that more than 90% of the world’s rice is produced and consumed in

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Asia. Therefore, the global rice require in 2020 is planned to rise by 35% over the 1995

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level.

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In Malaysia, paddy was planted in area of approximately 650 000 to 680 000

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hectares and it grows 2.2 million ton annually (Department of Agriculture, 2009). As it is

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expected after huge amount of production, huge amounts of residue remain as can be seen

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from Table 1.1. Thus rice straw causes a lot of environmental problems since it exists with enormous quantities and is not easy to handle or transport. As such, direct open burning in the fields is a common practice for disposal. This practice causes serious air pollution, hence new economical methods for rice straw disposal and utilization must be developed.

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Table 1.2: Planted Area and Production of Paddy and Paddy Straw in Malaysia for All Seasons (Department of Agriculture, 2009)

Paddy Production

(Hectares)

(Tonnes)

Paddy Straw

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Planted Areas

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Year

Production (Tonnes)

671 820

2 257 000

902 800

2004

667 310

2 291 000

916 400

2005

666 781

2 181 000

872 400

2006

676 034

2 202 000

880 800

2007

676 111

2 375 604

n.a

2 384 143

n.a

ct ed

by

or

ig in al

2003

2008

pr

ot e

670 524

is

Although rice straw may contain valuable compounds, or retained in the field to

te m

prevent soil erosion, converting the organic matter in the residue into more valuable and

is i

concentrated forms of energy will be beneficial to developing countries. Pyrolysis is an

Th

advantageous method to obtain liquid fuels from agriculture residues that are distributed

©

widely (Putun et al., 2007).

6