Farhana Othman, Siti Umairah Mohd Hudzori and Asnida Yanti Ani
Keywords: torrefaction, bio-coal, rice husk.
Abstract: Rice husk, an agro-processing waste in the Malaysia rice mills was investigated for its suitability as a prospective bioenergy feedstock for better fuel characteritics. In order to improve the bio-coal quality, rice husk pretreatment was done for upgrading the biomass feedstock before pyrolysis taken place. Bio-coal was produced by torrefaction which is a thermal process occured in a quartz reactor with nitrogen gas flow 100 ml/min. The operating was varying in reaction temperature (200, 250 and 300 °C) and processing time (10 min, 20 min and 30 min). The results of 1.35% mass yield, 80.07 % energy yield with higher heating value (HHV) of 19.024 MJ/kg was achived at optimum temperature 300°C and 30 minutes processing time. Proximate analysis of bio-coal indicated 1.35% moisture content and 15.69% of ash content. The temperature and processing time of torrefaction are found to be the most sensitive parameters in terms of energy yield and mass yield of bio-coal. Therefore, rice husk would be practical alternative as solid bio-fuel for cofiring with coal.