Effect of Elaeis Guineensis Biomass Residues in the Production of Coal Pellets

Abstract In this study, the effect of elaeis guineensis in the production of pellets from coal was investigated. Coal and elaeis guineensis were collected and pulverised. A locally fabricated screw press machine was used to produce three types of pellets in the same ratio (i.e. 80C:20R) while the fourth pellet is100% coal. These pellets are: coal palm kernel shell (CPKS), coal palm fibre (CPF), coal empty fruit bunch (CEFB) as well as raw coal (C). Thereafter, the pellets were sundried and characterised base on ASTM Standards. These include the calorific value, proximate and ultimate analysis. From the results, it was observed that the calorific value of CPKS, CPF, CEFB and C were 28033.38 kJ/kg, 27695.4 kJ/kg, 27687.5 kJ/kg and 22021.99 kJ/kg respectively. The sulphur content of the pellets is 0.7%, 0.71%, 0.73% and 0.76% respectively. The results revealed that the 100% coal pellet has the lowest percentage CV and the highest percentage sulphur and ash content. Essentially, this study has been able to established that elaeis guineensis residues is a good energy source for enhancing the calorific value of coal and also has the tendency of reducing the sulphur and ash contents of coal especially the PKS.