Vibrating Screen for Cleaning the PKS for Export Oriented

One of the quality parameters for PKS or palm kernel shells for the export market is the cleanliness factor. This cleanliness factor is very much associated with a lot or  little impurities in it. PKS in palm oil mills are usually only piled in a back yard the palm oil mill. This is very possible to mix with a number of impurities that are in the vicinity of the location or because of a number of waste or garbage that might also be disposed of at the location of the PKS pile. PKS impurities commonly found are metal, plastic and stone. For export purposes, the amount of impurity allowed or tolerance level is very small, which is around 1%. Why does the PKS need to be cleaned in such a way? This is because the impurities will interfere with the combustion process or utilization of the PKS and the power plant is the largest user. And for more details can be read here.

Manual Screener

Screener is the equipment used to clean the PKS from the impurities. The impurities or foreign materials will be separated from the PKS due to differences in size. And specifically for metal impurities, the separation is done by magnet (magnetic separator). The cleaning process with this sieve is basically very easy, even with a manual sieve it can be done. But for a large enough volume, for example up to thousands of tons, the manual sieve is inefficient and takes a long time, so it takes a sieve that works mechanically. There are two mechanical sieves that are commonly used, namely vibrating screen and rotary screen.

In practice the type of vibrating screen is more popular than the rotary screen. This is because the construction and operation of vibrating screens are easier, besides the price of vibrating screens is also cheaper than the rotary screen. Vibrating screen is a sieve that operates due to vibrations from eccentric movements. The higher the rpm the vibrating screen movement will be smoother. Both the vibrating screen can also be equipped with multiple sieves or multi-level sieves so that a number of product fractions can be obtained based on their size. It's just that it's also easier to do with a vibrating screen. In PKS sieving it is usually only one to three levels of sifting.

PKS needs for the Asian and European markets are predicted to continue to increase every year to reach millions of tons. This is because electricity production using PKS is increasing. PKS supply or supply mainly originates from Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as several countries in West Africa, the origin of palm oil trees. Indonesia and Malaysia mainly supply the needs of Japan and Korea in Asia while West Africa supplies countries in Europe. PKS as a biomass fuel also has competitors, especially wood pellets. PKS prices on the world market are much cheaper than wood pellets so that many biomass power plants prefer PKS. PKS production for export is also easier than pellet wood. Exports of PKS from Indonesia and Malaysia are quite large, because the number of PKS produced is also large, while the needs are also large. Besides that, the use of PKS in the country that is still small makes the PKS export more dominant

To order a vibrating screen machine, you can email it at cakbentra@gmail.com or call +62 813-288-41805

Looking for PKS Supply from Indonesia

Palm Oil Mill

With the number of palm oil mills estimated to reach more than 1,000 units with 12 million hectares of palm oil plantations and more than 40 million tons / year of CPO, the potential of the PKS (palm kernel shell) produced reaches 15 million tons / year. With properties almost similar to wood pellets and prices are much cheaper, PKS is a prime of biomass fuel. But with the location of palm oil mills located mostly very remote and PKS still considered a waste for palm oil mills, often getting PKS supply is not easy. Infrastructure factors and the distance from export ports are often obstacles. This makes some palm oil mills only dispose of or stockpile PKS in locations around their mills. For palm oil mills that have the main business of palm oil or CPO, there are still many palm oil mills lacking attention to PKS as an additional source of income.

PKS Stockpile

Japan in particular is the largest PKS consumer, followed by Korea and several European countries. Their needs are estimated to be up to millions of tons every year. PKS exports to Japan and Korea are easier and often done because the distance is relatively close compared to Europe. PKS exports to Japan and Korea are usually quite economical with a volume of 10,000 tons per shipment while for Europe with a longer distance so in order to remain economical the shipping volume must be quite large, for example more than 25,000 tons per shipment. It is predicted that in 2021 or 2022 the needs of Japanese PKS will increase rapidly and then be relatively stable for the next 20 years. This is because biomass power plants can be said to be fully operational that year. The original plan for 2019 is that the biomass power plants can operate, but because of a number of obstacles, it will be delayed until 2021 or 2022. For more details about the delay in the construction of power plants in Japan, please read here.

The PKS comes from a palm oil mill and is collected somewhere to reach a certain volume so it is ready to be shipped. In order to be accepted by the power plant, PKS is cleaned from a number of impurities and dried until the water content is below 20%. Cleaning of the impurity is done by means of a sieve and drying is carried out only with the sun light or aerated. In addition to being able to maintain the cleanliness and dryness of PKS, especially in the rainy season, buildings such as large warehouses and concrete floors are needed. Even not a few PKS buyers from Japan require large warehouse buildings with concrete floors so that the quality of PKS can be maintained.

Typical Biomass CFB Powerplant in Japan

Fluidized bed combustion technology for electricity generation is widely used in Japan. With the circulating fluidized bed combustion technology, PKS can be used as fuel, even biomass pellets from agricultural waste can also be used for this technology. Fluidized bed combustion technology with lower operating temperatures than pulverized combustion makes it more tolerant of various types of fuel. It also means EFB pellets (empty fruit bunch pellets), and wood pellets from energy plantations can be used for fluidized bed combustion fuels.

Biomass power plants that rely on PKS for a period of 20 years certainly pay close attention to the continuity of PKS supply in that range. Anything that can interfere with the supply of PKS both in the short and long term will seriously concern them. As an example of the use of domestic PKS there is also an increasing tendency which could be an increase in the use of biomass as fuel or other sectors such as the production of activated carbon from PKS. In these conditions, of course they will make calculations regarding PKS supply and PKS exporter. The palm oil plantation extensification program will also increasingly supply PKS on the other hand because the palm oil mill will process FFB  (fresh fruit bunch) from the plantation and produce PKS as waste or by-products.

PKS Loading into Mother Vessel for Export Market

PKS players or exporters now generally have contracts with Japanese buyers both for spot trading and even for longer contracts. And not a few of the exporters have run out of PKS quota / supply for new buyers. In such conditions a new buyer must be able to find another PKS supplier / exporter. New suppliers may not have export experience and do not even have a number of facilities to process PKS, but only have a network with a number of palm oil mills as PKS sources or producers. This condition makes the PKS export unable to be carried out directly, but requires a number of preparations from both parties. Considering there are still more than 1-3 years from now on, both parties can prepare the business from now on, so that the long-term business can be carried out and as expected.

Food Energy Water: A Perspective

The high environmental damage is mainly due to industrial activities that produce wastes that pollute the environment both solid, liquid and gas waste. In addition to damaging the environment, these wastes also pollute water, a substance that is needed by humans. While environmental damage leads to reduce the supply of clean water, industrial wastes cause a decrease in water quality. At the global level environmental damage, the high concentration of CO2 or greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has caused climate change and global warming that could threaten human life itself. The high concentration of CO2 is mainly due to the activities of the coal power plant industries. In addition to the exhaust emissions of coal power plants also contain mercury, heavy metals that are very dangerous for health. At least the impact due to low water and air quality has reduced the quality of human life. And now these conditions are common in various major cities in the world.

Here again biomass is the solution. When improving water and air quality is an important concern, activated carbon is the choice. Although currently most or about 80% activated carbon still comes from coal, but with increasing environmental awareness, renewable raw materials are increasingly increasing. Coconut shell is a very popular raw material for the production of activated carbon and Indonesia is also the owner of the largest coconut plantation in the world. Palm kernel shells and various other biomass are also potential for activated carbon. To reduce mercury emissions and polluted air from coal power plants, for example the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has made regulations for mercury and polluted air thresholds for these plants. In vehicles, canister (catalytic converter) it will also increase the quality of exhaust emissions. As for the quality of drinking water for example Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts in America have also regulated the concentration of a number of chemicals that are allowed in drinking water. The things above encourage the use of activated carbon as a solution.

Meanwhile, to reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere and to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere back to biomass as a solution. Biomass is a carbon neutral fuel so it will not increase the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere because of the production of biomass through photosynthesis. Wood pellet and PKS are biomass fuels which are very popular nowadays because they can reduce and even replace the use of coal in power plants and boilers in the industry. CO2 absorption from the atmosphere is carried out by plants which are also a source of biomass. Biochar or charcoal from plants used for agriculture can also absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. Production of wood pellets from energy plantations will also improve soil quality. Even arid and barren lands will flourish and can store water and avoid erosion due to the management of the energy plantation. Integration with sheep, goat and cattle farms with the energy plantation will optimize the results of the energy plantation. Large plantations for large farms should be integrated, for more details to read here. With this integration the food sector and land conservation are also an integral part.

World wood pellet needs are predicted to reach 50 million tons in 2024 while PKS also reaches 10 million tons in 2022. The largest market for biomass fuels, especially Europe, refers to the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) program with a composition of 30 percent renewable energy use by 2030 and biomass gets the majority portion of 80% of renewable energy. Two countries namely Japan and Korea are the largest users of biomass fuels in Asia. PKS which has many similarities to wood pellets and is only produced in palm oil producing regions, especially Indonesia and Malaysia are the main competitors of wood pellets and are widely used in Japan and Korea. Some time ago a number of countries in Europe have also used PKS from Indonesia and the potential is also very large for Indonesia in the tropics for the production of wood pellets from energy plantations. As for the market activated carbon or the largest user is the Asia Pacific region with China as its biggest exporter. The projection of activated carbon production reaches almost 3 million tons in 2020 with a value of 4.46 million US dollars. Japan and Korea are also the biggest users of activated carbon. The second order of the market or the use of activated carbon is the North American region, mainly driven by regulations to reduce mercury and increase the quality of drinking water. The growth of industrialization in Indonesia and the abundance of biomass raw materials should also increase the production of activated carbon even with the target of meeting the export market, especially in the Asia Pacific region.