Page 96 - Malaysia Exporters of Biomass & Related Services Directory

LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS
Refers to the main building blocks of plant matter: that is composed of lignin, cellulose
and hemicelluloses. Second generation biomass conversion technologies are being
developed to convert lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels and biobased chemicals.
MESOCARP FIBRE
Palm fruit is about 5cm in length and has an oval shape.
It consists of yellowish red oily flesh mesocarp and
single seed palm kernel nut. At crude palm oil mills, palm
fruit is cook under hot steam and pressed for oil
extraction, with mesocarp fibre and palm kernel nut
as left over mass. The mesocarp fibre is then separated
from palm kernel nut by cyclone separator. Mesocarp
fibre is elongated cellulose with 30 - 50mm length.
MOISTURE CONTENT
The proportion of water in a sample of biomass, defined as the weight of water as a
percentage of the weight of biomass. This can be defined on either a wet basis, as a
percentage of the total (wet) weight of the sample, or a dry basis, as a percentage of the
oven dry weight of biomass. Wet basis is usually used for fuel purposes.
OIL PALM BIOMASS
Six main types of oil palm biomass are produced as by-products of the palm oil industry:
oil palm fronds, oil palm trunks, empty fruit bunch, palm kernel shells, mesocarp fibre
and palm oil mill effluent. Oil is only 10% of the total dry matter of the oil palm with the
remaining 90% being oil palm biomass.
OIL PALM FRONDS (OPF)
The oil palm fronds (OPF) are the leaves of the
oil palm and are available during pruning and
replanting activities. The oil palm frond is
approximately 2-3 meters long and weighs about
10kg (wet weight). It consists of the petiole (the
stem) and many long leaflets on either side
of the stem. The top two thirds of the frond contain
most of the nutrients, while the basal (lower)
third is rich in cellulosic materials and sugars,
which are needed in the production of biofuels
and biobased chemicals.
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GLOSSARY