Densified Biomass (Biomass Pellet & Biomass Block) for Animal Bedding

In contrast to wood pellets used for fuel so that their quality or characteristics are reviewed from the combustion side such as calorific value, ash content to ash chemistry, wood pellets used for animal bedding have different quality requirements. In wood pellets for fuel, the performance factor and efficiency of power plants are the benchmarks, while for wood pellets for animal bedding, the health factor of livestock is the benchmark. The use of animal bedding is mainly in subtropical areas or areas with four seasons and the need is increasing in winter. The use of wood pellets for animal bedding is indeed not as popular as wood pellets for fuel so its usage is also not as much as use for fuel. For animal bedding, the quality of wood pellets required is the ability to absorb water, not too hard (low density), not containing harmful ingredients and a soft texture. Not only wood pellets are commonly used as animal bedding, but also biomass blocks.

By compacting (densification) such as pellets and blocks, transportation costs are cheaper, making it easier for storage and use. Historically, the first animal bedding used was straw because it was easy to obtain and widely available. Lack of straw, such as low water absorption, so that more urine flows out than is absorbed, and also after being mixed with urine and livestock manure, the livestock can still eat it so that it often causes stomach pain, which encourage the innovations for animal bedding. In addition, straw also often contains quite a lot of dust and requires a large space for storage. Wood shaving is the next animal bedding material that is better than straw.

Wood shaving in the form of bales is usually traded for this animal bedding. The dust is also removed before the wood shaving is baled, so it does not become a respiratory problem in certain animals such as horses and dairy cows. The water absorption ability of wood shaving is also better than that of straw, which is around 260% to 420% while that of straw is only around 200%. Some manufacturers even enrich the wood shaving with enzymes and bacteria to bind ammonia so it doesn't escape into the air. This product makes the life of animal bedding longer and after that it can be a good compost manure. However, because the density of the bales of wood shaving is quite low, which is less than 200 kg/m3 so it is less economical for transportation and long-distance use. This is so that biomass densification into wood pellets or biomass pellets and biomass blocks is the solution to this problem.

A number of the above biomass compaction products have been used for animal bedding. In a number of countries with four seasons such as horses, dairy cows and chickens using animal bedding, this product indirectly supports food security, especially animal protein sources such as meat and milk. Another important factor is that the animal bedding products do not come from biomass which contains hazardous materials or must come from untreated wood (if it comes from wood biomass), so that raw materials from wood that are painted, polished, caulked or contain other chemicals cannot be used. As for the raw materials above, albasia is a type of soft wood, EFB or empty fruit bunch of palm oil, OPT or oil palm trunks are commonly obtained during replanting of the palm oil plantations and cocopeat is a side product of the cocofiber industry or coconut fiber processing.

OPT Charcoal Pellet Production for Waste of Oil Palm Trunk Solution

Oil palm trunk waste as well as biomass in general can be used for sources of energy, materials and chemicals. So much oil palm waste is because currently most of the oil palm plantations in Indonesia are old and enter a period of massive replanting. In addition, replanting is also a periodic program conducted by oil palm plantations to continue to maintain the sustainability of its production, so that palm oil waste is always available. Indonesia and Malaysia with a total oil palm plantation area of ​​around 17 million hectares of course have a lot of palm oil waste. If 1 hectare is planted with 130 palm trees, the palm tree population in both countries has reached 2.21 billion palm trees. The current era of bioeconomy encourages massive and sustainable use of biomass, so that initially considered waste is now a potential raw material. Charcoal production from palm oil waste also does not damage the environment because it is a tree that must be replaced with new plants.

The use of palm oil trunks for energy sources is one of them by making pellets (OPT pellets) which currently also have producers. Another option is to be made into charcoal pellets (OPT Charcoal Pellet). Before being pelleted first, the oil palm trunk is carbonised through the process of pyrolysis or carbonization. The charcoal produced is then compacted into pellets (OPT Charcoal Pellet) with a little added adhesive. There are many advantages that can be obtained by the pyrolysis process, especially continuous pyrolysis. In addition to the main products in the form of charcoal, biooil by-products, biomass vinegar (liquid smoke) and syngas are also of high economic value. Biooil can be used directly as liquid fuel for example for burners or ship fuels. Biooil can also be upgraded for a variety of general vehicle fuels such as gasoline or diesel oil. Biooil as well as crude oil can also be upgraded for the production of various chemicals (bio-based chemical).

Biomass vinegar (liquid smoke) can be used as a biopesticide or liquid organic fertilizer. Fertilization will restore nutrients or organic matter to the tree or plantation. This is important to be done to maintain the sustainability of the oil palm plantation itself, which is currently one of the main concerns. Syngas can be used as direct fuel such as biooil, or used for electricity generation using a gas engine. While the main product, charcoal after being pelleted, can be used as fuel or agricultural charcoal (biochar). The charcoal market is usually for the food industry, namely for heat sources, in contrast to wood pellets which are widely used in power plants.