In the oil plam milling industry there are so much reusable resource just from processing FFB. However there seems to be one resource that we havent come to fully utilise to the fullest which is empty bunch fiber.
i understand many mills have this excess fiber not able to turn it into a usable and valuable resource just like PKS.
having too much piled up will be a fire hazard as seen multiple times.
isnt there an existing sustainable business which is able to utilise this abundance of resource?
btw this is in Indonesia
In our mill it is sold to trader who sell it to the nearest non palm factories for fuel
Alex, just increase your power consumption by adding down stream activity, immediately your efb fibre will disappear in boiler, 120mt/hr with 4 MW power requirements, solve your fibre problem also solve your steam and power balance, your can forget your make up valve in BPR, constant high flow of steam to your BPR and fast build up pressure in sterilization, good sterilization, press station, nut cracking, kernel dirt and lost all within spec. High through put but not difficult to manage
Excess Empty Bunch Fibre in Mills
The issues and problems with the handling of Empty Bunches has not been fully resolved by the industry. The prohibition on incineration as a disposal method by DOE has compounded this problem. Small mills have been hardest hit by this no-burning regulation.
The main issue on the utilization of Empty Bunch Fibre is the processing costs and power requirement to shred and de-water the high moisture content in the Empty Bunches. This is especially so for small mills which lack the power and scale of production to support the capex for such installation. Hence, we only see Empty Bunches processing installation in larger mills with surplus power and high FFB throughput.
Some of the attempts by the industry for the commercialization of the Empty Bunches include:
1. Composting – not viable due to low nutrient content and low prices.
2. Long Fibre – unstable demand.
3. Pelleting for fuel – high power costs.
4. Input material for MDF and Hard Board – quality and demand issues.
5. Fuel for mill’s boilers – can be used to replace the burning of palm shell but problem with boiler nesting must be content with.
As fuel for other industries, there are many issues:
1. Consistency of supply.
2. The other party need to install equipment to comply with Clean Air Regulation
3. Transportation costs.
4. Storage issues and costs.
Some options for mills with excess Empty Bunch Fibre:
1. Maximum usage of material for fuel in the boiler. Practice zero palm shell burning in the mill operation. May need standby boilers to handle nesting problems. New boilers should be designed for Empty Bunch Fibre combustion.
2. Try to save on Mesocarp Fibre by using as much Empty Bunch Fibre as possible. Mesocarp Fibre has more consistent structure and fetches high prices.
3. Find buyers within a reasonable distant from the mill to reduce handling and transport costs.
4. For mills with estates, mulching can help to reduce the excess volume of Empty Bunch Fibers.
It is true that excess empty bunch fibre can be a potential fire hazard if not being managed properly. Empty bunch fibre can be converted from waste to renewable alternatives such as:- 1. Empty bunch fibre can be further processed as pellets which can be a fuel alternative to coal 2. Empty bunch fibre can also be mixed with POME and decanter/effluent solids to be processed as fortified fertilizers 3. In some mills they might dry the empty bunch fibre further to enable it to be burnt as a fuel in the biomass boiler.....burning more empty bunch fibre can help in extraction of Mesocarp fibre and shell which can fetch high revenue 4. Empty bunch fibre can also be used as a raw material to produce cardboxes...... effort to produce paper from empty bunch fibre is still not suitable because of the colour of the empty bunch of different batches