Modelling and Optimisation of Coconut Shell Drying and Carbonisation Using Multi-response Taguchi Method with Multi-response Signal-to-noise Procedure

The main purpose of this research is to optimise the biomass drying and carbonisation process in terms of both proximate analysis and biomass calorific value, simultaneously. The independent variables are drying temperature, drying time, carbonisation temperature, and carbonisation holding time. The dependent variables are proximate analysis and calorific value. The primary methods used are Taguchi and multi-response signal-to-noise (MRSN) procedure. Simultaneous optimisation using MRSN generates a value of 2.48. The result corresponds to a drying temperature of 100°C, a drying time of 24 h, a carbonisation temperature of 650°C, and a carbonisation time of 120 minutes. This best result is achieved through A1B3C3D3 configuration. The optimum expected values of dependent variables obtained in this study are maximum calorific value and fixed carbon of 7744 cal/g and 92.934% respectively, and minimum values of moisture, volatile matter, and ash content of 0.354%, 2.318%, and 1.437% respectively. All the indicators are satisfied as the result models are valid and feasible. The novelty of this research is the simultaneous parameters optimisation of the five response variables having different quality characteristics. Using MRSN procedure, all the parameters are combined into a single best parameter.