Friday, December 11, 2009

MORE TALK ON CLIMATE CHANGE

  • The United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that carbon dioxide concentrates will increase by 2050 to between 450 to 550 parts per million (ppm) and will continue to increase unless precautionary action is taken.
  • As for global temperature, IPCC estimates that it will increase by between 0.5 degrees and 2.5 degress centigrade by 2050, and will continue to increase within a range of 1.4 degress and 5.8 degrees by 2100.
  • It is estimated that about 86% of global energy demand is met by burning fossil fuels.

Source - Malaysian Business

Friday, December 4, 2009

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF BIO-DIESEL USAGE

  • Renewable energy source.
  • Bio-diesel reduces the emission of carbon monoxide by approximately 50% and carbon dioxide by 78% on a net basis. The use of bio-diesel does not give rise to any net CO2 emission on combustion.
  • Bio-diesel contains fewer aromatic hydrocarbons.
  • Sulphur emissions are eliminated because bio-diesel does not contain sulphur.
  • It has higher cetane rating than petrol-diesel, and therefore causes less knocking.

Source - Global Oils & Fats Business Magazine

Saturday, November 28, 2009

UN CLIMATE SUMMIT IN COPENHAGEN 2009

THE GOAL
  • A post 2012 accord to drastically cut emissions of green house gases (GHGs) by 2050.

THE BOTTOM LINE

  • Scientists say industrialised countries should cut GHG emissions by 25-40% by 2020 to help limit global warming to 2C (3.6F) - a crucial tipping point - rising to 80-95% by 2050.

EMISSIONS CUTS

  • Who will cut and by how much ? Industrialised countries are mainly responsible for today's warming. Emerging giants (China, India, Brazil) are becoming major polluters.
  • How can the required cuts be achieved ? Effective carbon trading ? Reafforestation ? Clean technology ? Energy savings ?

AID

  • Poor countries need financial and technical aid to switch to a low carbon economy and adapt to disrupted weather patterns. Who will pay ? How much is needed ? Which institutions will manage this funds ?

Source - New Sabah Times

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

CODE-COMPLIANT

  • Palm oil players embrace recommended procedures throughout the production chain to gain universal acceptance.
  • The code of practice (COP) introduced by Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) last year is set to enhance the reputation of Malaysian palm oil in meeting the demands of an increasingly health and environment conscious market.
  • The COP which is voluntary at the moment, will assist the industry in the sustainable production of palm oil and help it develope trade and market accessibility internationally.
  • The code covers the entire oil palm cycle and includes the Code of Good Agricultural Practice for Oil Palm Estates and Smallholdings, Code of Manufacturing Practices for Palm Oil Mill, Code of Good Refining Practice for Palm Oil Refineries, Code of Good Practice for Palm Kernel Crushers, and Code of Good Practice for Storage and Transport of Processed Palm and Palm Kernel Oil in Bulk.
  • The elements in the COP cover basically the main standard operating procedures of the process from the nursery to the bulking installation and transport.
  • The important requirements are food safety, quality and sustainability.

Source - Malaysian Business

CDM STATUS IN MALAYSIA

  • Number of applications successfully registered with CDM Executive Board as at first quarter of 2009 is 34.
  • Project issued with carbon emission reduction certificates (CER) is 5 valued at USD 5 t-1 amounting to 648 718 t CO is RM 12.3 million.

The 5 projects are ;

  1. Lahad Datu Edible Oil biomass steam and power plant.
  2. Sandakan Edible Oil biomass steam and power plant.
  3. Felda Sahabat empty fruit bunch biomass energy project.
  4. Replacement of fossil fuel by palm kernel shell for the production of Portland Cement.
  5. Biomass energy project, Lumut

Source - Palm Oil Engineering Bulletin / Pusat Tenaga Malaysia

Sunday, November 15, 2009

MINDING PALM OIL'S THREE " Ps "

  • " In this industry, minding the triple bottom line, which take stock of the needs of people, the health of the planet and earning profits, is paramount. We need to keep track of the ever-changing battlescape as our very success attracts plenty of interest from friends and foe alike, " he says. - MPOB Chairman Datuk Basri Ahmad.
  • An environment impact assessment (EIA) is required for land to be developed for growing palm oil that is more than 50 hectares.
  • The Government has set aside RM20 million in establishing a Wildlife Conservation Fund that, among others, will be spent to ensure protection of the wildlife including the orang utan.
  • Globally, at 8.5 million hectares, oil palm has the lowest land use compared with over 58 million hectares given over for soya bean.
  • Oil palm commands a yield of almost 10 times that of soyabean, 6.9 times of sunflower seed and 6.3 times rapeseed. Without doubt, hectare for hectare, oil palm is the most efficient crop.
  • The Environmental Quality Act 1974 governs the discharge into water courses, making it mandatory for all palm oil mills to treat waste water on site to an acceptable level before discharge.
  • The Environmental Quality (Clean Air Regulations) Act 1978 legislates against open burning.
  • As far as the European Union is concerned, we have undertaken the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) initiative as well as the MPOB Codes of Practice (COP) which address environmental and food health concerns.

Source - Malaysian Business

Saturday, November 14, 2009

FAREWELL DINNER FOR TUAN HAJI OMAR HASSAN

06 November 2009 @ Ocean King Sandakan - Selamat berpindah ke Johor kepada Tuan Haji Omar Hassan. Good luck, May Allah Bless You.

Friday, November 6, 2009

IMPORTANCE OF THE PALM OIL INDUSTRY

  • Total area under oil palms = 4.48 million ha or 13.1% of total land area or 67% of agricultural area.
  • 41% of world's palm oil production and 47% of world's exports. Malaysia is No.2 in production and No.1 in exports.
  • 11% of world's total oils and fats production and 27% of world's oils world's oils and fats exports.
  • Provides direct employment to 570,000 people, excluding other multiplying effects and spin-off activities.
  • Oil palm occupies 4.48 million ha or less than 2% of total area (233 mil) under global oilseed cultivation or 0.09% of world total agriculture areas.
  • NGO claim palm oil cause deforestation and global warming BUT what about 99.91% of agricultural land in other countries that was formerly mostly forest land ?
  • Significant foreign exchange earner - RM 65.2 billion in 2008.
  • Oil palm is the backbone of country's development and political stability.
  • Malaysian palm oil is consumed in over 150 countries worldwide. Latest trend in Friends of Earth (FoE) headlines - "Palm Oil Plantations not helping anyone". The NGO must be getting desperate to issue such negative statements.

Source - Trends and Potentials of Malaysia's Plantation Sector / Tan Sri Datuk Dr Yusof Basiron / MPOC

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

ADVANTAGES OF MULTI-STAGE TURBINE

# Type of Turbine - Operating Condition ; Specific Steam Consumption (KG/KW/HR) ; Potential Power Generation at 30 mt steam/hour
  • Single stage - 250psig, 20C superheat ; 26 KG/KW/HR ; 1,150 KW/HR
  • Single stage - 480psig, 80C superheat ; 20 KG/KW/HR ; 1,500 KW/HR
  • 4 stage - 480psig, 80C superheat ; 12 KG/KW/HR ; 2,500 KW/HR

Source - Keck Seng Malaysia / PIPOC

Saturday, October 24, 2009

STEAM REQUIREMENT FOR STERILIZATION

# Type of Sterilization Process ; Steam Required (Kg/MT FFB)
  • Triple peak - 270 Kg/MT FFB
  • Double peak - 205 Kg/MT FFB
  • Single peak - 109 Kg/MT FFB
  • Inter-blowing-accumulator single peak - Less than 109 Kg/MT FFB

Source - Keck Seng / PIPOC

Friday, October 23, 2009

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Aidilfitri 1430H @ Boustead Segamaha Palm Oil Mill





program pertama di kilang baru. alhamdulillah semuanya berjalan lancar. terima kasih kepada teman-teman yang sudi hadir dan yang bersusah-payah untuk menjayakannya. ingat 'pembaikan berterusan (continual improvement)' yang saya sebut dalam ucapan ringkas saya. MAAF ZAHIR BATIN BA !

What is DOBI ?

  • Acronym for "Deterioration of Bleaching Index"
  • Easily obtained by simple spectrophotometric measurement and is used to predict the ease of bleaching of crude palm oil during refining
  • Is defined as the numerical ratio of the uncorrected absorbance at 446nm to that at 269nm
  • DOBI = (Absorbance at 446nm) / (Absorbance at 269nm)
  • Crude palm oil quality : DOBI - Good (3-4) ; Average (2-3) ; Poor (<1)
  • Absorbance 446 is related to carotene content
  • Absorbance 269 is related to secondary oxidation of crude palm oil
  • Factors effecting these two parameters will thus also affect the DOBI value
  • To have good DOBI value, attempts must be taken to minimise deterioration of carotene and also oxidation
Source - T.S.Tang /MPOB

Friday, October 16, 2009

GROSS CALORIFIC VALUE

The Gross Calorific Values of various palm products and that of medium industrial fuel oil are as follows ;
  • Crude palm oil - 10,000 k.cal/kg
  • Crude palm kernel oil - 9,488 k.cal/kg
  • Crude palm stearin - 9,833 k.cal/kg
  • Palm acid oil (2% mois) - 9,571 k.cal/kg
  • Fuel oil - 10,278 k.cal/kg

Source - Engineering News

Saturday, October 10, 2009

DECIDING ON THE REQUIRED BOILER WATER TDS

# Boiler Type ; Maximum TDS (ppm)
  • Lancashire ; 10,000 ppm
  • 2 - Pass Economic ; 4,500 ppm
  • Package and 3 - Pass Economic ; 3,000 - 3,500 ppm
  • Low Pressure Water Tube ; 2,000 - 3,000 ppm
  • Medium Pressure Water Tube ; 1,500 ppm
  • Coil Boilers and Generators ; 2,000 ppm

The above figures are offered as a broad guide only, the boiler maker should always be consulted for specific recommendations.

Source - Spirax Sarco

UPGRADING TO ISO 9001 : 2008

  • The ISO 9001 : 2000 standard has been revised
  • The revised standard, ISO 9001 : 2008 was published on 15th. November 2008
  • It is stated that any existing certification issued to ISO 9001 : 2000 shall not valid 24 months after the publication of the new standard i.e. 14th. November 2010

Source - Sirim QAS

Thursday, October 8, 2009

BIOGAS UTILIZATION IN PALM OIL MILLS

  • As at 2008, Malaysia has about 406 palm oil mills
  • For every 1 ton palm oil effluent discharged, about 28 m3 of biogas is generated
  • The biogas generated from all the 406 palm oil mills will be about 1.4 billion m3 annually
  • This biogas comprises about 65% methane
  • As methane is a greenhouse gas that is 21 times the global warming of carbon dioxide, the free emission of biogas to the atmosphere could bring detrimental effects to the environment

Source - MPOB

Sunday, October 4, 2009

BATCH STERILIZATION vs CONTINUOUS STERILIZATION + NORMAL DILUTION

# Based on 100 tonnes FFB processed
  • Sterilizer condensate - 20 ; 0
  • Clarification sludge - 38 ; 43
  • Dilution water - 18 ; 18
  • Dilution ratio (water/diluted crude oil) - 0.31 ; 0.28
  • Sterilizer condensate + clarification sludge - 58 ; 43

Source - PIPOC 2007

Thursday, September 10, 2009

PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT


  • pH - 4.7

  • Oil and Grease - 4,000

  • Biochemical Oxygen Demand - 25,000

  • Chemical Oxygen Demand - 50,000

  • Total Solid - 40,500

  • Suspended Solid - 18,000

  • Total Volatile Solid - 34,000

  • Ammoniacal Nitrogen - 35

  • Total Nitrogen - 750

  • Phosphorous - 18

  • Potassium - 2,270

  • Magnesium - 615

  • Calcium - 439

  • Boron - 7.6

  • Iron - 46.5

  • Manganese - 2.0

  • Copper - 0.89

  • Zinc - 2.3

All parameters in mg/l except pH.


Source - Ma & Ong (1985)

Saturday, August 1, 2009

SBR Monitoring Parameters

# SBR - Sequential Batch Reactor for Effluent Treatment Plant

INFFLUENT
  • BOD : 50 - 200 mg/l
  • COD : 1150 - 4500 mg/l
  • SS : 500 - 1300 mg/l
  • pH : 7 - 7.8

REACTOR

  • MLSS (Mixed Liquor Suspended Solid) : 1400 -3900 mg/l
  • DO (Dissolved Oxygen) : 3 - 5 mg/l
  • SVI (Ratio of Settle Sludge to Suspended Matter) : 30 - 80

EFFLUENT

  • BOD : 20 mg/l
  • COD : 60 - 100 mg/l
  • SS : 100 - 600 mg/l
  • pH : 7.5 - 8