Effect of activated carbon as microwave absorbance on the yields of Microwave Assisted Pyrolysis of Palm Oil Mill Effluent

Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) has been produced as a byproduct from palm oil processing factory in Malaysia. It contains a lot of organic and inorganic matters. It has been produced almost 50 million tonnes per year and this scenario will impose serious pollution if it is released to open water system. In this research, recovery of POME by using Microwave Assisted Pyrolysis (MAP), with an activated carbon as a microwave absorber, has been carried out. MAP has been studied to produce three different useful pyrolytic products such as solid char, liquid bio-oil and gas which can be used as potential fuels for energy in the future. In this study, 5wt% of an activated carbon has been used for 200g of POME where the activated carbon has been mixed homogeneously with POME. Both effect of microwave power level and radiation time have been investigated. Microwave power level in range of 300W, 700W and 1000W were used to study the effect of microwave power level on the product yields. While radiation time in range of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 minutes were used for this study. Qualitative study has been done on the product collected after pyrolyze by using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer. Hydrocarbon bonds have been determined for both solid and liquid products. Combination of POME with activated carbon did increased product yields and enhanced products obtained.