Palm Oil Mill: Just Replacing Boiler? Or Are You Also Looking for a Solution to Address the Problem of Empty Fruit Bunches and Generate Additional Profits?

As palm oil plantations in Indonesia continue to expand—currently covering approximately 17 million hectares—the demand for palm oil mills is also increasing. About 10 years ago, there were approximately 1,000 palm oil mills in Indonesia, but according to the latest data from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia, the number of active palm oil mills (POM) in the country is now estimated to be between 1,200 and 1,500. These palm oil mills are primarily located on Indonesia’s two largest islands: Sumatra (52.69%) and Kalimantan (42.71%), while the remainder are in Sulawesi, Papua, and several other islands, where their presence is relatively small (each accounting for less than 3%). In terms of ownership, the majority of palm oil mills in Indonesia are owned by large private companies (93%), with the remainder owned by state-owned enterprises (7%). A single large private company may own a dozen or even dozens of these palm oil mills. 

One of the main equipments for palm oil mill operations is the boiler. In fact, given the current palm oil mill production process, boilers are mandatory for palm oil mills; more details on the reasons can be found here. Boilers can also be considered the "heart" of a palm oil mill, converting water into high-pressure steam to run the production process and generate electricity for the mill and its employee housing. Like all production equipment, boilers have a lifespan. When a boiler's lifespan is exceeded, it becomes not only uneconomical due to high maintenance and operational costs, but also dangerous.

The average lifespan, which is the technical and economic life of a palm oil mill boiler, is 20 years. Once this lifespan is exceeded, investing in a new boiler becomes more profitable. The majority of palm oil mills in Indonesia use water tube boilers (e.g., Takuma or Vickers). This type of boiler circulates water through hundreds of externally heated pipes fueled by palm oil waste in the form of shells and fibers. Because these pipes interact directly with extreme heat and water scale, these internal components wear out most rapidly. The three main factors affecting the boiler's lifespan are boiler feedwater quality, fuel characteristics, and regular maintenance.

When the time comes to replace the boiler, and considering the mountains of unused empty fruit bunches (EFB), palm oil mills might consider using them as boiler fuel. But given their large size and high moisture content (>60%), how can they do that? This is certainly a reasonable and innovative idea, given the urgency of replacing the boiler and simultaneously facing the problem of biomass waste. Technically, as biomass waste, it can certainly be used, but is it economically feasible to treat or prepare the empty fruit bunches (EfB) until they are ready for use as fuel? This is the challenge.

Proven evidence will dispel any doubts or theoretical narratives. Likewise, a unit that can process empty fruit bunches (EFBs) and also serve as an additional energy source for boiler operations (cogeneration) at the palm oil mill. With this equipment, not only can the problem of empty fruit bunch (EFB) biomass waste be resolved, but the palm kernel shells (PKS), which have been used as boiler fuel along with the fiber, can be 100% sold directly, providing a source of income. Furthermore, the potassium-rich ash content of empty fruit bunches (up to 30%) also has the potential to be used as fertilizer, including for use on the palm oil plantation. For more details, please read here. Visiting and observing the unit in action can also serve as a means of proving the point, thereby increasing the confidence of palm oil mills interested in this solution.

Beyond technical factors, economic considerations will undoubtedly be a crucial consideration in implementing this equipment. By considering several factors, particularly those currently operating in the palm oil industry, a comprehensive and accurate economic analysis can be conducted to reach a decision on use of the equipment. In an era of renewable fuels, efficiency, zero waste, and increased profitability, this equipment, which serves as a supplemental energy source (cogeneration) for the palm oil mill's boiler, is worth considering for palm oil mills currently facing boiler replacement. 

OPT Briquette and EFB Briquette for Medium Capacity Industrial Biomass Boiler Consumption

The growing utility business, specifically the provision of steam and electricity for renewable energy-based industries, particularly biomass, has led to a growing need for biomass fuel. This also applies to industries using their utility units to produce steam and electricity using biomass fuel. In addition to biomass fuel, water quality, the raw material for steam and electricity production (using steam turbines), is also crucial and must be considered. Good water quality will ensure optimum steam and electricity production performance, and the longevity of equipment (boilers, heat exchangers, steam turbines, and cooling towers), and vice versa. Good water quality is like healthy blood for our bodies, enabling all organs to function optimally.

Palm oil industry solid waste is a potential raw material for biomass fuel. This solid waste is empty fruit bunches (EFB) and oil palm trunks (OPT). EFB is produced from palm oil mill operations with a percentage of approximately 22% of fresh fruit bunches (FFB), while oil palm trunk waste is produced from replanting programs of oil palm plantations, which are also very abundant. For more details, read here. Utilizing both of these biomass wastes for the production of biomass fuel, especially biomass briquettes, would be very good. But why are they processed into briquettes?

The advantage of briquettes over pellets, aside from technical advantages, lies in their scale. Briquette production requires a looser particle size and lower moisture content. Energy consumption per ton of briquette production is also lower than that of pellet production. This makes EFB briquette and OPT briquette production more suitable for a palm oil mill serving medium-sized industries. A palm oil mill with a capacity of 45 tons/hour of FFB will produce approximately 10 tons/hour of EFB. With a 20-hour daily operation, approximately 200 tons will be produced per day. With a moisture content of approximately 60%, this means that after drying, approximately 100 tons/day (10% moisture content) will be produced, or 2,500 tons/month.

Likewise, when using oil palm trunk (OPT) waste as raw material, it depends on the ratio or percentage of land replanted each year. Replanting itself is an effort to continuously maintain the productivity of the oil palm plantation itself, in addition to the use of superior seeds and intensification. For more details, read here. For example, with a land area of ​​10,000 hectares and each year replanting 5% of the land, or 500 hectares. With an average of 125 trees per hectare of oil palm plantation and each tree having an average dry weight of 0.4 tons, then per hectare obtained 50 tons of dry weight of biomass. With an area of ​​500 hectares, this means 25,000 dry palm trunk biomass (10% moisture content) each year or can be processed into OPT briquettes with a capacity of around 2,000 tons/month.

Biomass boilers, used for producing biomass briquettes (EFB briquettes/OPT briquettes), can utilize various combustion technologies, such as moving grates, stokers, reciprocating grates, and so on. The choice depends on the cost or price of the boiler and its efficiency. In addition to biomass fuel, to align with decarbonization and sustainability programs, water for boiler operation, including boiler feedwater and cooling water for heat exchangers (heat exchangers/condensers), is crucial. This is likened to blood for the human body; healthy blood ensures optimal function. If impure blood circulates throughout the body, for example due to kidney failure, organs will automatically be damaged, and a person will soon die.

To maintain water quality for steam production through a boiler, boiler feedwater/demin water must strictly comply with the boiler's operational specifications. The higher the boiler pressure, the higher the water quality or purer the water required. If the steam is used for electricity production, after the steam drives the turbine, it needs to be condensed in a heat exchanger (condenser) so that it changes phase back to liquid and enters the boiler again. This heat exchanger requires cooling water that is continuously used repeatedly, thus requiring a cooling tower. Not only does the boiler feedwater/demin water need to meet the required technical specifications, but so does the cooling water for this condenser. With water volumes circulating up to thousands of tons per hour and operating 24 hours a day (the same as boiler operations) in the cooling tower, a number of water problems in the cooling tower need to be addressed effectively and efficiently. A number of water problems that occur in cooling towers can be read here.

In addition to electricity production, steam is also used for processes within a specific plant. If the steam is then condensed, then liquid, and returned to the boiler, this requires a cooling tower, just as in electricity production. Efficient and environmentally friendly water treatment technology, which eliminates secondary pollution and is easy to operate and maintain, aligns with the vision of decarbonization and sustainability. This vision of decarbonization and sustainability will be even more optimal or ideal for utility units, namely the use of biomass-based renewable energy and environmentally friendly water treatment technology. 

EFB Pellets: Indonesia and Malaysia's Huge Potential Ready to be Monetized

Empty oil palm fruit bunches (EFB) are the most abundant solid waste from palm oil mills. Efforts to utilize them have also attracted considerable attention. With hundreds of tons of waste produced daily, it certainly presents a challenge, but also an attractive opportunity. Considerations of investment size and potential profits are key. EFB pellet production is an attractive option given the need for biomass fuel for decarbonization, renewable fuels, and carbon-neutral fuels to achieve Indonesia's Net Zero Emissions (NZE) by 2060.

The global population of palm oil plantations, with Indonesia and Malaysia leading the way, makes processing this material highly attractive. Many machinery companies have focused on empty fruit bunch processing, particularly through size reduction and pressing, but few have focused on producing EFB pellets. This is because empty fruit bunches, with their high fiber content, are more difficult to process than wood materials like sawdust or other agricultural waste biomass. 

Selecting the right, reliable, and experienced production machinery supplier is key to success. Performance guarantees, such as agreed quality and quantity targets, as well as timely machine manufacturing, installation, commissioning, and production, are indicators of the supplier's reliability. A track record is also an important consideration. Furthermore, the high potassium content of empty fruit bunches (EFB) poses a challenge in producing boiler-friendly fuel, particularly for pulverized combustion, commonly used in power plants.

And with the increasing number of companies producing EFB pellets, there will be competition for the supply of empty fruit bunches raw materials, such as PLN EPI (Energi Primer Indonesia) which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PT Biomassa Energi Group (BEG) and G7 Group SP.Z.O.O from Poland which was developed jointly will start operating in February 2026, with an initial production target of 120 thousand tons per year, and will be followed by five additional factories with similar or larger capacities, more details read here. 

Decarbonization in the Steel Industry Part 2: Charcoal as Fuel and Reductant in Blast Furnace

Basically, the conditions in each steel industry vary so that the decarbonization process is also carried out using different and gradual routes to achieve net zero emission conditions. The conditions of each steel industry have a unique configuration of production technology, raw materials and energy sources, capacity and yield, regulatory requirements and so on. To achieve Net-zero by 2050, a number of things need to be done, such as efficient use of raw materials, increasing the portion of reuse and recycling, retrofit and advanced technology, and especially efforts to use renewable energy sources as fuel and reductant in the iron and steel industry. But the fact is that the construction of blast furnaces - basic oxygen furnaces (BF -BOF) is still being carried out, which should be EAF (Electric Arc Furnace) or currently only around 30% of the global iron and steel industry uses this EAF, but there are transition efforts that can be made as described below. The transition is influenced by market demand, policy interventions, and incentives given to producers to reduce emissions in steel production.

To create policies related to this transition, providing incentives to reduce emissions for producers and creating market demand for "green steel", a clear definition is needed between low emissions vs. almost zero emissions (near zero emissions) vs zero emissions (net-zero emissions). It is estimated that in 2021 CO2 gas emissions from this industry will be 3.8 Gt globally (this has not even taken into account methane emissions from coal mining). Meanwhile, for Net-zero 2050 conditions, direct CO2 emissions from the global iron and steel industry must be reduced to 1.8 Gt CO2 in 2030 and 0.2 Gt in 2050. It seems that a lot of hard work is still needed to achieve this target, even with the current conditions. Many people are pessimistic.

One use of biomass as a carbon neutral fuel in the iron and steel industry is the use of charcoal as a fuel and reductant. Biomass such as wood must be carbonized or pyrolyzed to become charcoal. The use of charcoal in blast furnaces not only reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, but also sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions because the sulfur content of charcoal is very low (around 100 times lower) than coke. Likewise, the use of limestone will decrease so that slag production will also automatically decrease. Likewise, it makes the blast furnace operation acidic.

Apart from a number of advantages obtained as above, it turns out that there are drawbacks to using charcoal in blast furnaces, namely in large blast furnaces which causes operational problems because the strength of charcoal is usually lower than coke. As a solution, there are three methods of using charcoal in the blast furnace process. First, with pulverized charcoal injection (PCI). With this method the charcoal must be crushed into a powder and injected into the blast furnace. Second, with charcoal powder mixed with coke powder into pellets or briquettes called charcoke. By making this charcoke, its strength is sufficient for use in conventional blast furnaces. And third, by replacing coke with lump charcoal for small capacity blast furnaces (inner volume 60 – 550m3). In small capacity blast furnaces, the compression pressure on each charcoal particle is much smaller than in large capacity blast furnaces. Sintering and pelletisation are not required in this case.

Energy plantations or biomass plantations can be created specifically to supply raw materials for charcoal production. The energy plantation will also absorb carbon from the atmosphere (carbon sink) in a certain volume. The volume of carbon from the atmosphere can be maintained in such a way that its function as a carbon sink can be carried out, namely by the amount of wood harvested for charcoal production not exceeding the growth rate of the wood biomass. In this way, the energy plantation cannot be finished in one harvest but is sustainable while maintaining its volume or area.

With continuous pyrolysis technology, charcoal production can be optimized. With this continuous pyrolysis technology, apart from the large charcoal production capacity, multi-use by-products are also produced, such as gas products which can be used as an energy source as well as biooil. Biooil can also be used as a raw material in the chemical industry. Charcoal production of tens to hundreds of tons per day is also possible with continuous pyrolysis technology.

And especially in Indonesia, as the owner of the largest oil palm plantations in the world, which is estimated at more than 15 million hectares and with palm oil mills reaching around 1,000 units, there is a lot of palm oil waste that can be utilized, especially empty palm fruit bunches or EFB (empty fruit bunch). The potential for charcoal production from EFB is also very large. Apart from that, as the 5th largest coal producer in the world with production of around 570 million tons per year, coal also needs to be processed into coke. Charcoal from empty bunches or EFB can be made into powder for PCI or into charcoke by compacting it, namely making pellets or briquettes with coke.

Animal Feed Protein Business from Palm Oil Mill By-Products

Animal feed is a link in the food chain for humans. The need for feed will also continue to increase along with the growth of population or human population. In fact, a number of animal feed companies have animal feed factories with very large production capacities or millions of tons every year, for more details, read here. It is predicted that the human population will reach 9 billion people in 2050. The nine billion people who are predicted to live on planet Earth in 2050 will need an additional 250 million tons of protein per year, or an increase of 50% compared to today. This protein need can be met one way from the livestock sector and so that the livestock industry can achieve its target, a lot of animal feed industries are needed. 

Not only for humans, protein is also one of the main elements for animal feed and is among the most expensive protein animal feed elements. This is why protein production for animal feed is important for the feed industry in particular or the livestock industry in general. The world, especially Europe, is lacking the protein element in animal feed. This is why there is an organization in Europe that encourages the use of insects as a source of feed protein, namely IPIFF (International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed). The types of insects permitted to be bred by the European Commission for this purpose include only 7 species of insects, namely 3 types of crickets, 2 types of caterpillars and 2 types of flies. Apart from having determined and legitimized several types of insects, it turns out that the protein from these insects is not 100% for animal feed, but around 30% is for food consumed by humans.

PKE / Palm Kernel Expeller or PKC / palm kernel cake is a by-product or waste from palm kernel oil (PKO) mills with a protein content of around 15%. Compared to CPO mills, there are fewer PKO mills. This is because not all CPO mills also have PKO mills. It is estimated that the ratio of CPO mills to PKO mills is 10: 1. With the number of CPO mills in Indonesia currently around 1,000 units, the number of PKO mills is estimated to only be 100 units. This palm oil expeller or palm kernel cake / PKC has the potential to be used as maggot feed. Cultivating maggots from palm oil cake will produce premium quality maggots. With the main protein content (~ 45%) maggots will be a source of high quality feed protein. Meanwhile, if maggot cultivation uses palm oil mill effluent sludge or part of CPO mills liquid waste, the quality of the maggots produced will not be as good as if fed from palm oil expeller. However, with so many CPO mills, the potential for maggot production from palm oil mill effluent sludge is no less large.

Products that can be produced from maggot farming include dried maggots, maggot meal and maggot oil, as well as by-products in the form of feces and urines. Products from maggots in the form of dried maggots, maggot oil and maggot meal are feed ingredients for poultry, fish and pets. World feed production is estimated at around 1 billion tons each year with the following composition, namely, poultry feed production is ranked first with a portion of 45% or almost half of world feed production, followed by second place pig feed at 11%, third ruminant 10% and the rest are others such as food for fish, pets and horses. The world's largest animal feed producing countries are China with a share of 19.6%, followed by a number of countries, namely America with 17.4%, Brazil with 6.8%, then countries such as Mexico, Spain, India, Russia, Japan and Germany as well. are large producers of animal feed. the rest by countries around the world.

Maggot droppings, which are a by-product or waste from maggot farming, can be used as organic fertilizer, namely solid organic fertilizer and liquid organic fertilizer. This fertilizer can be used on various plantations and farms, including on palm oil plantations themselves. And it would be even better if the organic fertilizer was added or enriched with biochar so that it becomes slow release fertilizer and increases its nutrient use efficiency (NUE: Nutrient Use Efficiency).

EFB Pellets with Low Potassium (K) and Chlorine (Cl) for Power Plants

Palm oil mills that have excess energy, especially electrical energy, will have more freedom to develop their business. The excess electrical energy could have come from the production of electricity from the use of biogas. Liquid waste (pome) from palm oil mills is the raw material for biogas production. A palm oil mill with a production capacity of 30 tons of FFB/hour will be able to generate 1 MW of electricity and so on. One of the products that can be processed from the utilization of palm oil solid waste as well as the development of this business by utilizing excess energy is EFB pellets production. With the high price of palm kernel shells or PKS and wood pellets, the driving force or need for EFB pellets is increasing. Global awareness regarding decarbonization or CO2 removal (CDR) or CO2 reduction is the main driving force.

Apart from that, the production of EFB pellets can also be carried out by a separate company by purchasing the raw materials for EFB from palm oil mills. With conditions in Indonesia where there are still very few palm oil mills that have biogas units so that they have electricity supply and can process EFB into EFB pellets, there is still a lot of EFB that has not been utilized and becomes waste that pollutes the environment. This makes EFB pellet producing companies not have to worry about the supply of EFB raw materials. In fact, because the amount or volume of EFB is very large, the EFB pellet plant will be overwhelmed by the abundance of this raw material.

However, due to the high content of EFB in potassium and chlorine (ash chemistry), the use of EFB pellets is limited or can only be used in certain types of power plants, especially stokers and fluidized beds. In fact, most power plants currently use pulverized combustion technology. This is so that the chemical content of ash in EFB must be made as friendly as possible to boilers, especially those with pulverized combustion technology. This can be done so that the chemical content of the ash in the form of potassium (K) and chlorine (Cl) is only less than 2000 ppm. Potassium (K) with a low melting point causes deposits or scale to form in the heat exchanger pipes in the boiler so that the efficiency of heat exchange decreases while chlorine (Cl) is corrosive which shortens the life of the equipment. The treatment was even successful in reducing K and Cl by up to 80% so that the problem of fouling thickness and corrosivity was also reduced by 80%. With the number of palm oil mills in Indonesia reaching around 1000 units, of course the amount of EFB that can be processed into EFB pellets is also very large.

Will PKS for Export Disappear from Circulation and be Replaced by Wood Pellet?

 The need for palm kernel shell (PKS) is increasing due to the increasing need, especially for the export market, making the price even more expensive, even matching the price of wood pellets. Nearly all of the biomass plants in Japan have experienced delays in their operations, now come online for more details can be read here. This has led to an increase in the price of the PKS.

Palm kernel shell (PKS) is a biomass fuel that is the main competitor for wood pellets, because the quality or specifications have many similarities. Previously, PKS were always cheaper than wood pellets, even in the international market some time ago the price of PKS was only about half the price of wood pellets. But currently the price of PKS equals even slightly above wood pellets. This of course will make users switch to wood pellets because of better quality such as lower moisture content, higher calorific value, uniform size and shape, and generally lower ash content.

When users flock change to wood pellets, the PKS commodity for export will get smaller in portions and even disappear altogether. Moreover, wood pellets from Vietnam and Russia are known to be cheap with large capacities. Vietnam is even the largest producer of wood pellets in Asia with a production of more than 1 million tons / year. Of course, this condition is very sad for exporters who have been doing business by exporting the PKS. The high tax and levy in Indonesia make it more difficult for exporters in Indonesia, whereas in Malaysia they do not exist. The most important thing that must be done is to be able to maintain the price of the export PKS so that the PKS is still worth it with its quality. It is not easy, of course.