Being among the world’s largest palm oil producers, Malaysia generates huge quantities of oil palm biomass. The oil palm biomass, in particular mesocarp fibre, empty fruit bunches (EFB) and palm shells, generated from the milling process has long been identifies and utilized as a sustainable renewable energy (RE) fuel in the country. To enhance furl quality and for logistic purposes, EFB and palm shells can be mixed and futher treated to become a uniform solid fuel via the briquetting process. Briquetting is a mechanical treatment to upgrade loose biomass into a higher density and uniform solid fuel via compaction. This approach improves the physical characteristics, enhances the combustion efficiency and expands the use and marketability of palm biomass fuel either for domestic or export markets. MPOB, in collaboration with Global Green Synergy Sdn Bhd (GGS), has successfully developed a process system for briquetting EFB fibre and shells using a piston press technology.

Main Research: Nasrin Abu Bakar