Effect of Washing and Torrefaction Pretreatments on Fuel Properties of Rice Husk-Based Bio-Pellets

Alchalil Alchalil; Rizky Iskandar; Adi Setiawan; Zulmiardi Zulmiardi; Athiyah Rana; Azhar Syahputra

doi:10.30811/jpl.v24i3.9120

Effect of Washing and Torrefaction Pretreatments on Fuel Properties of Rice Husk-Based Bio-Pellets

Alchalil Alchalil, Rizky Iskandar, Adi Setiawan, Zulmiardi Zulmiardi, Athiyah Rana, Azhar Syahputra

Abstract

Bio-pellets produced from rice husk is an alternative fuel for co-firing in steam boiler for a power plant. Rice husk is an organic waste material that is highly abundant in Indonesia. This study applied pretreatment processes, namely washing and torrefaction, to reduce ash content and improve the calorific value of rice husk-based bio-pellets. In this experiment, rice husk was washed using water heated to 70°C ± 5°C under two different conditions: with stirring and without stirring. Untreated rice husk was also used as a control sample. The torrefaction process was conducted at 260°C. The biochar obtained from torrefaction was subsequently converted into bio-pellets using tapioca starch as a binder at a proportion of 30% of the raw material weight. Based on the experimental results, the lowest ash content was obtained from rice husk bio-pellets washed without stirring, with an ash content of 26.362%. The most optimal combustion rate and the highest calorific value were observed in bio-pellets produced from untreated rice husk, with values of 0.337 g/min and 4456.4 kcal/kg, respectively. These findings indicate that the washing pretreatment contributed to the reduction of ash content in the bio-pellets, while the torrefaction process enhanced both the calorific value and combustion rate.

Keywords

Torrefaction; Calorific Value; Ash Content; Bio-pellets; Rice Husk

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30811/jpl.v24i3.9120