2T/H Empty Palm Fruit Bunch Pellet Production Line In the Philippines

A customer from the Philippines showed great interest in our company’s palm fruit bunch granulator production line and expressed a strong intention to purchase it. I traveled to the factory for a tour and had detailed meetings with engineers. After visiting the production environment and biomass pellet machine production line of our factory, the customer affirmed our company’s production scale and technology, and successfully signed a purchase contract with us for a 2T/H palm empty fruit bunch pellet production line. We look forward to long-term cooperation. During the visit, the customer gave our company valuable suggestions about the wood pellet machine, which will help us better adapt to the local market. We sincerely thank our customers for their support and look forward to long-term and extensive cooperation in the future.

Palm pellets: an emerging fuel

The continuous advancement of the global economy has led to a growing demand for fuel, while existing energy resources are progressively insufficient to meet this demand. This has propelled the need to develop sustainable fuel resources to address the declining availability of fossil fuels, forestry resources, and environmental degradation.

One emerging solution lies in the utilization of palm pellets, derived from the versatile palm plant that yields a variety of biomass. The production of 1 kg of palm oil can generate up to 4 kg of oil palm biomass, making it a substantial resource. Palm biomass and its by-products exceed natural wood resources by sevenfold. Predominantly cultivated in Southeast Asia, with Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand leading the production, palm plantations in Asia covered 7,599,000 hectares in 2005, yielding 146,093,000 tons of fresh fruit bunches and 102,240,000 tons of empty fruit bunches.

Empty palm fruit bunch composition

Palm particles are characterized by their oily nature, bulkiness, and composition of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. They contain carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and other elements, with a high moisture content of approximately 65%. These physical properties render palms valuable but also pose challenges in their utilization.

Utilization rate of empty palm fruit bunches

Empty fruit bunches, traditionally underutilized, have been typically managed in the following ways:

1. Incineration, with the resulting ash used as fertilizer, though large-scale burning is now restricted.
2. Returning to the field as mulch, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the need for artificial fertilizers while enhancing carbon sequestration in soil organic matter.
3. Some empty fruit bunches are disposed of in landfills.

Due to the limited traditional uses of palm fruit bunches, a significant amount of palm biomass energy goes to waste. However, with the innovation of palm empty fruit bunch conversion technology, palm biomass can now be effectively transformed into pellet fuel for co-firing systems and biomass boilers to generate steam and electricity.

According to relevant data, in 2009, 88.74 tons of empty palm fruit bunches in Asia produced 1,714 GWh of off-grid energy at a rate of 20 kWh/ton, resulting in a total off-grid power generation of 357 MW for 400 hours per month.

Granulate palm fruit bunches

Palm fruit bunches are processed into pellets for several reasons:

1. Converting palm fruit bunch biomass into pellets generally increases its energy content.
2. Palm pellet fuel or briquettes with a calorific value ranging from 4,200 to 4,900 kcal/kg can effectively substitute coal, alleviating both energy and environmental pressures.
3. Palm pellets are sustainable, renewable, and can be produced on a large scale, demonstrating environmental friendliness.
4. With their dense and clean nature, palm pellets are easy to transport and store, and they produce minimal smoke when burned.

Palm pellet production

When investing in palm pellet production, it is advisable to consider advice from experienced palm pellet mills:

1. Gain a comprehensive understanding of the palm pellet production line.
2. Ensure that the production process meets the requirements of the target market.
3. Adequate raw materials are essential to maintain continuous pellet production.
4. Ensure the quality of raw materials, aiming for an ideal moisture content of 15%, and drying the raw material if the moisture content exceeds 15%.
5. Choose a location for the palm pellet factory that offers convenient transportation for raw materials.
6. Conduct thorough feasibility studies before proceeding with the investment.

Processing Technology of Empty Palm Fruit Bunches as Granules

The typical palm pellet production line consists of the following stages: crushing, drying, grinding, pelletizing, cooling, screening, dust recovery, and packaging.

Key equipment involved in the entire palm pellet production line includes:

1. Electrical cabinet (used to control the equipment throughout the production line)
2. Palm Crusher (to reduce palm biomass to a size suitable for drying)
3. Dryer (to regulate raw material moisture for meeting granulation requirements)
4. Grinder (to grind properly sized and dry material into powder for granulation)
5. Palm granulator (to convert the prepared material into granules)
6. Cooling system (to reduce the temperature of the pellets post-pelletization before packaging)
7. Packaging machine (to pack palm particles into bags)

Precautions for pellet processing:

To ensure safe and efficient operation of the pellet machine, operators should adhere to the following guidelines:

1. Thoroughly study the instruction manual and familiarize themselves with the equipment’s technological processes before operation.
2. Strictly adhere to regulations and sequence during production, following installation procedures as specified.
3. Install and secure the main equipment on a horizontal concrete floor, ensuring tight fastening of screws.
4. Prohibit smoking and open flames in the production area.
5. Before each startup, allow the machine to idle for a few minutes, ensuring proper fit and rotation of the pressure roller before feeding.
6. Do not introduce hard debris such as stones and metals into the feeding device, and remove any iron before granulation to prevent damage to the granulation chamber.
7. Avoid using hands or tools to remove materials during equipment operation to prevent accidents.
8. In case of abnormal noise during production, immediately cut off the power supply, and resume production only after inspecting and addressing the issue.
9. Prior to shutdown, cease auxiliary feeding, add oil, and wait until the mold hole is filled with oil and the granulation chamber is empty of oil. This helps with future production discharge.

Adhering to these operational guidelines not only improves equipment output and performance but also extends its service life.