Palm Oil Processing

Webinar: POPSIG Research and Design Showcase 2022

Date From 26th September 2022
Date To 26th September 2022
Price Free of charge, open to all.
Location Online: 09:00 MYT. Duration: 7 hours.

Overview

IChemE's Palm Oil Processing Special Interest Group (POPSIG) is pleased to organise a seminar that provides students a platform to present their research and design projects about the technological advancement for the palm oil industry. The presenters are the recipients of the 2021 POPSIG Student Research Project Bursary, 2022 POPSIG Final Year Design Award and 2022 POPSIG Student Research Project Bursary.

Highlights

Presentation 1: Synthesis of Carbon Nanoparticles from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch as Electro-catalyst for Energy Storage

Metal-air batteries (MAB) have been featured as a promising energy storage technology to provide a stable and continuous energy source. Currently, Pt/C as the conventional material is used as the electro-catalyst material for air cathode in MAB, but it is costly. The purpose of this research correlates to the fabrication of a novel biomass waste-derived carbon nanoparticle material from oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) as a low-cost, environmental friendly and effective electro-catalyst for MAB. In this work, the new electro-catalyst biomass was successfully synthesized via carbonization and activation which showed promising potential as the anode material for MAB.

Presentation 2: Palm Oil Mill Effluent Waste Treatment using TiO2/Ti3C2Tx MXene Composite Aerogel via Photocatalytic Degradation Process

The utilisation of conventional treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME) via open pond system with high efficiency remains a challenge due to its time and space consuming requirements as well as the high sludge production. In the recent years, two-dimensional (2D) MXenes have emerged as a trending frontier material owing to their unique layered microstructures, copious surface functional groups and high electrical conductivity as well as optical properties. The application of MXene can be further diversified by assembling it into a functional three-dimensional structure. Herein, this study attempts to investigate on the photocatalytic degradation of POME with the proposed use of TiO2/Ti3C2Tx MXene aerogel as a sustainable photocatalyst in the photocatalytic processes under visible light irradiation. The composite was reported to have enhanced POME degradation efficiency of 98.3% which is higher as compared with Ti3C2 aerogel (73.7%) and TiO2 (58.9%).

Presentation 3: Thermogravimetric Analysis and Combined Kinetic Study on the Pyrolysis of Empty Fruit Bunches Lignin Extracted using Sucrose-malic Acid-water Low Transition Temperature Mixture

Despite recent studies on the application of sucrose-malic acid LTTM as green solvent on delignification of empty fruit bunches, there is lack of insights on the extendibility of sucrose-malic acid-water LTTM to oil palm biomass. The lignin extraction efficiency increased from 7.67 to 53.70 % when operating temperature increased from 70 to 110 °C. When biomass to LTTM ratio decreased, the lignin extraction efficiency increases from 5.57 to 56.82 %. Thermogravimetric analysis concluded that higher heating rate lowers the effectiveness of the thermal degradation. Kinetic modelling estimated the average activation energy for lignin pyrolysis was found to be 66.68 kJ.

Presentation 4: The Potentials of Co-pyrolysis of Empty Fruit Bunch and Disposable Face Mask Wastes

The abundance of palm oil biomass and the surge of disposable face mask consumption has been a major hurdle for waste management. Co-pyrolysis of biomass and plastic wastes has become an innovative technique for waste reduction, while generating biofuels. Hence, this research study the thermal degradation behaviour of the binary mixture of the palm oil industry waste (empty fruit bunches) and disposable face mask waste samples via the thermogravimetric analysis. The thermo-kinetic result from the study shows that co-pyrolysis of empty fruit bunches and DFM is a value-added technique that enhances the process i.e., activation energy and bio-oil quality.

Presentation 5: Sustainable Production of Palm Oil-derived Biodiesel

The recent price drop in crude palm oil (CPO) due to the supply being higher than the food demand suggests that palm oil needs to diversify its downstream products in order to enhance in resiliency. One promising way was to utilise CPO to produce biodiesel. Utilizing CPO to produce biodiesel can push towards going green while meeting the ever-rising energy demands. Therefore, this project presented a sustainable approach to produce palm-biodiesel. This was performed through heat integration and more notably P-HENS, which is a novel software used to synthesise multiple alternative heat exchanger network (HEN) designs to aid in decision-making.

Presentation 6: Valorisation of Blended Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) Sediment and Oil Palm Frond (OPF) as the Substrate for Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL)

Degradation of POME and oil palm frond (OPF) remains an issue faced by the palm oil sector due to the unsatisfactory performance of the current technologies. The utilisation of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) provides an affordable alternative to biodegrade these wastes due to its low technological requirement. In this research, the biodegradation performance of blended POME sediment and OPF by BSFL will be studied. In addition, the effect of the wastes’ composition to the BSFL quality upon feeding will be systematically understood. In this presentation, it is aimed to provide insights to the palm oil sector for the adoption of this affordable waste degradation technology.

Presentation 7: CO₂ Adsorption Study of Concurrent Activated and Modified Palm Kernel Shell Derived Activated Carbon

High demand vegetable oil production generated substantial palm kernel shell (PKS). It was converted into activated carbon (AC) via physical, chemical, or physiochemical activation and used to capture CO₂. AC was modified by amine or metal functionalization to alter surface chemistry for enhance adsorption performance. Modification process required longer operational time, multi-step sequence, and is expensive. To overcome these, single-step simultaneous activation using sulphuric acid and modification with barium chloride was introduced to synthesize PKS derived AC (PKSdAC). Barium sulphate reduction was significant in producing barium onto PKSdAC to initiate chemical adsorption with comparable performance compared to conventional modified AC.

Presentation 8: Potential of Glycerin Pitch in Mixed Culture Polyhydroxyalkanoate Production: Component Characterizations and Organic Loading Rate Optimization

To promote the establishment of circular economy model in palm oil industry, a scheduled waste called glycerin pitch (GP) is investigated for its potential in the production of biodegradable plastics called polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). Ongoing studies demonstrated that GP is suitable in cultivating PHA producing microorganisms from activated sludge. Interestingly, products other than PHA are also produced by the enriched culture. Thus, this presentation covers the follow-up research that focuses on (1) characterizing the products formed, (2) identifying the dominant cultures and (3) optimise the organic loading rate of GP to maximise products formation.

Speakers

Brenda Lim Ai-Lian, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia

Brenda obtained Bachelor (Honours) in Chemical Engineering and Master in Engineering Science from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. During her Bachelor degree studies, Brenda’s final year project involved turning waste into wealth. From then, she has developed keen interest in research as well as to improve the environment by turning biomass wastes into something useful. In 2018, she had completed her internship in Turcomp BMB Sdn Bhd in the sales team. Brenda decided to pursue her masters which involved utilizing oil palm empty fruit bunch into carbon material for energy storage systems. Her research study had successfully synthesised carbon material with satisfying results. Brenda is currently a Process Engineer at ExxonMobil.

Jocelyn Lim Jean Yi, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia

Jocelyn Lim is a fourth-year student in Bachelor of Chemical Engineering with Honours at Xiamen University Malaysia. She was one of the recipients of IChemE POPSIG Student Research Project Bursary in 2021. Her research project was on the design of TiO2/Ti3C2 MXene aerogel composite to treat palm oil mill effluent.

Jonathan Cheng Lin Yang, Research Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, Malaysia

Jonathan obtained his Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) (Honours) in 2019. He received the Dean List award in 2019. He is currently pursuing his Masters in Engineering (Research) at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak. In 2018, he joined Sar–Alam Indah Sdn Bhd (Kuching) in the operation process department which involves septic sludge treatment process, process optimization, lab analysis and environmental analysis. Jonathan’s current project aims to study the pyrolysis of lignin extracted from EFB using sucrose-malic acid-water LTTM via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and kinetic modelling as lignin is normally treated as unwanted waste through pre-treatment processes. Jonathan is also the secretary for the Postgraduate Research Society (PGRS) since 2021.

Melvin Wee Xin Jie, Department of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia

Melvin obtained his Bachelor degree of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak. He joined LONGi as a process engineer from 2019 to 2020, before joining Curtin as a PhD candidate in Curtin University Malaysia the same year. He is a recipient of the Curtin Malaysia Postgraduate Research Stipend (CMPRS) for his postgraduate research. His research is focusing on the co-pyrolysis of oil palm biomass (empty fruit bunch) with disposable face mask wastes for the production of bio-oil.

Abdulqader Mohammed Alawi Bin Sahl, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, Malaysia

Abdulqader obtained Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Chemical Engineering from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Malaysia. He is a Swinburne Emerging Leader chemical engineering graduate. Abdulqader obtained 7 Dean’s List Award and 10 Unit Top Scorer Awards throughout his degree. He also obtained the best research paper award at the Swinburne Engineering Final Year Research Project Conference 2022 and two awards at the 32^nd Symposium of Malaysian Chemical Engineers (SOMChE). Currently, he is a research assistant on a joint-industrial project with eight months of prior research experience in the process simulation of natural gas sweetening. He also presented in three conferences and published one paper with two journal papers currently under review. He is a committee member at IChemE National Early Careers Committee and was the past President and Event Coordinator at SUTS IChemE Student Chapter.

Thuppahimudalige Chandeepa Lakshith Fernando, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, Malaysia

Chandeepa obtained Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Chemical Engineering from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Malaysia. He completed his 1^st year studies at Australian National College. Chandeepa obtained multiple top scorer and Dean List awards from 2019 to 2022. At the beginning of 2022, he joined Al Turki Enterprises as an intern. He was included in various projects that included generating Process Flow Diagrams and its optimisation – in crude oil extraction sites in Oman. Chandeepa did his final year research project about in-vessel composting utilizing fixed temperature reactors. His research compared the differences between fixed and self-regulating reactors and found out that Monod order was the most suitable mathematical order for simulating fixed temperature reactors.

Bong Zhang Ying, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, Malaysia

Zhang Ying obtained Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Chemical Engineering from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Malaysia in July 2022. She will beginher study for Master of OSH at UNIMAS in October 2022. She was the vice treasurer and vice secretary at IChemE Swinburne in 2020 and 2021, respectively. She completed her internship at TSG Green Sdn. Bhd., an RT- Paulownia lab that produces RT-Paulownia clones by cultivating tissue cultures. She was also involved in the R&D of RT-Paulownia during her internship. Her final year research project focused on the study of promoters to enhance carbon capture in the AWL process. Zhang Ying also participated in National Chemical Engineering Symposium (NACES) 2021, BoChES 2021, and RCEUC 2022.

Tharindu Dayan Buddhika Siyambalapitiya, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, Malaysia

Tharindu obtained Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Chemical Engineering from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Malaysia. Tharindu obtained Dean’s List in 2018 and 2019, along with Top Scorer achievements for several units. He was the co-author for a published a conference paper in process optimization. His final year research project was about the characterization and kinetic studies of the decomposition of oil palm empty fruit bunches derived lignin via green solvent extraction approach. His research focused on identify the vast advantages that are incorporated in using pre-treatment such as low transition temperature mixtures (LTTMs) which was a much eco-friendly approach to conventional treatment methods. Tharindu has also received the Swinburne Emerging Leader Award for skills demonstrated in multiple other areas.

Osob Abdullahi Mohamud, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, Malaysia

Osob obtained Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Chemical Engineering from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Malaysia.

Shaffaf Thajudheen, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, Malaysia

Shaffaf obtained Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Chemical Engineering from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Malaysia. In 2021, He joined Metito as an intern at the Department of Chemicals. He involved in the operations, assisting the lead project engineer and supervising the overall production line. Shaffaf’s final year research was a case study on the energy-intensified extractive distillation process for binary separation of an azeotropic mixture.

Yeow Teck Ann, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia

Teck Ann is currently a third-year student in Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Chemical Engineering at Xiamen University Malaysia. He is the holder of Dean’s List Award and IOI Group’s Scholarship. Alongside academics, Teck Ann has been given the privileged through Research Student Assistantship to be involved in several research projects in Dr Tan Jian Ping’s research group. Gradually, he has developed strong interest in discovering new biochemical processes. In addition to that, Teck Ann has been active in the students’ activities. He is the vice president of the school’s environmental club, an executive committee at XMUM IChemE Student Chapter and a director at Young Malaysian Engineers. Through his tenure in these student bodies, he has organised several major events successfully.

Lai Jia Yen, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, Malaysia

Jia Yen is a PhD student in Chemical Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus. She is currently Yayasan Sarawak Tun Taib Scholarship holder, of which the scholarship provides financial support to her study. She obtained her Bachelor of Chemical Engineering in Curtin University, Malaysia in 2015 and Master of Engineering (by research) in Swinburne in 2018. Her Master research project was about surfactant template recycling for continuous mesoporous MCM-41 material synthesis. The surfactant template found to recycle up to 8 cycles to synthesize MCM-41. In 2012, she joined Shin Yang Plywood Sdn Bhd in Miri, Sarawak as an intern in R&D department in paper tape product processing and overall sizing and costing for product delivery. She joined BEM in February 2022.

Ng Wai Lun, School of Computing Science and Engineering, Faculty of Innovation and Technology, Taylor's University, Malaysia

Wai Lun is currently a PhD candidate at Taylor's University, Malaysia, researching on resource recovery from glycerin pitch. He graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from Taylor’s University in 2020 and obtained the Dean List and Book Prize awards for all eight semesters. In 2019, he interned at BASF Petronas and was involved in troubleshooting a compressor breakdown and teaching how to size a control valve. For his final year group project, Wai Lun designed a steam reformer that earned his team the first place in the engineering fair. Wai Lun’s final year research project was about condenser water treatment technologies in proving the validity of a building criteria published by Green Building Index (GBI).

Moderator: Lam Hon Loong, Professor in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Director in the Centre of Excellent for Green Technology, University of Nottingham Malaysia

Professor Dr Lam received his first PhD in Chemical Engineering, 2010 from University of Maribor, Slovenia and the second PhD in Information Technology, 2011 from University of Pannonia, Hungary. Professor Lam's research focused on Computer Aided Chemical Engineering such as Process Integration, biomass utilisation and green supply chain synthesis. His work is highly recognised and being invited for book chapters, plenary session and keynote presentation at international level. He appointed as Editor for international journals, namely ENERGY (Elsevier), Energy, Sustainability and Society (Elsevier), Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy (Springer), Process Integration and Optimisation for Sustainability (Springer).

The material presented in this webinar has not been peer-reviewed. Any opinions are the presenters' own and do not necessarily represent those of IChemE or the Palm Oil Processing Special Interest Group. The information is given in good faith but without any liability on the part of IChemE.

Acknowledgement

POPSIG gratefully appreciates the support provided by

Desmet Ballestra (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Malaysian Oleochemical Manufacturers Group (MOMG) to 2021 POPSIG Student Research Project Bursary
Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) to 2022 POPSIG Student Research Project Bursary
Desmet Ballestra (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to 2022 POPSIG Best Final Year Design

Disclaimer: IChemE will not be storing or controlling any data linked to this event.

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