Nurul Iffah Farhah Mohd Yusof, Alia Syafiqah Abdul Hamed, Aminnudin, Che Mohd Ruzaidi Ghazali, Nur Farizan Munajat
This study explores the potential of shrimp shells (SS), a widely available waste material, for biofuel production through torrefaction, offering an alternative approach to address environmental and energy scarcity issues. The torrefaction was conducted at 200, 250, and 300 ℃ in a fixed bed reactor, resulting in varying yields of biochar, bio-oils, and biogas. As the temperature increased, the biochar yield declined from 64% to 34%, while the bio-oils and biogas yields rose to 28% and 38% respectively. Compositional changes were investigated using proximate and ultimate analyses, revealing significant reductions in moisture (from 22.97% to 4.55%) and volatile matter (from 71.67% to 20.19%), while the fixed carbon content increased from 3.48% to 68.91%. FTIR spectroscopy confirmed structural alterations in the SS, including dehydration and transformations of specific compounds. The results suggest the feasibility of SS torrefaction for biochar production, which has potential applications in carbon sequestration and energy generation. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.
Faculty of Ocean Engineering Technology and Informatics, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, 21030, Malaysia; Departemen Teknik Mesin dan Industri, Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, Indonesia; Renewable Energy and Power Research Interest Group (REPRIG), Eastern Corridor Renewable Energy SIG, Faculty of Ocean Engineering Technology and Informatics, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, 21030, Malaysia