• What are oil palm empty fruit bunches (opefbs)?
  • Oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFBs) represent the main lignocellulosic biomass waste from the palm oil industry. For every ton of crude palm oil (CPO) produced, 0.96 tons of OPEFB is generated [3, 4].
  • How much palm oil is produced in a mill?
  • About 0.4 mt of kernels are produced with every mt metric ton of crude palm oil. The amount of solid palm oil waste available from a mill can be substantial. This consists of empty fruit bunches (EFB), palm kernel shell, mesocarp fibres, and possibly solids from decanters.
  • How is palm oil extracted?
  • Palm oil is extracted from fresh fruit bunches (FFB) by a mechanical process, whereby a mill commonly handles 60 to 100 mt per hour of FFB. The palm oil mill of today is based predominantly on concepts developed in the early 1950s (Mongana Report). An average size FFB weighs about 20-30 kg and contains 1500-2000 fruits (Fig. 1).
  • Can oil palm fresh fruit bunch solid waste be used as a resource?
  • Disposal of oil palm fresh fruit bunch (FFB) solid wastes is becoming a challenge with an increased demand and production of palm oil. Whilst this poses a challenge, it could be turned into an opportunity by utilising it as a resource and fully valorise it to meet soil and crop demands.
  • What is the main harvest from the oil palm?
  • The main harvest from the oil palm consists of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from which are obtained a wide variety of products, the chief of which is crude palm oil (CPO) extracted from the mesocarp or flesh of the fruit and palm kernel oil (PKO) extracted from the palm kernel or seed within the fruit.
  • What is a palm oil mill?
  • A palm oil mill produces crude palm oil and kernels as primary products and biomass as secondary product. The capacity of mills varies between 60-100 tons FFB/h. A typical mill has many operation units as shown in Figure 2. This comprises sterilization, stripping, digestion and pressing, clarification, purification, drying and storage.