Fatty Acid Methyl Ester as an Additional Ingredient in Rice Husk Bio-Pellets to Improve Product Quality

Abstract

The depletion of fossil energy reserves and the emission of fossil energy which is not environmentally friendly causes the need to use renewable energy as an alternative. Biopellet is a biomass-based renewable energy in Indonesia. Bio-pellets are produced from a large biomass base. Thus, bio-pellets have the potential and promise to continue to be used as fuel by humans. The literature review covers the characteristics of rice husk bio-pellets and the application of bio-pellets as fuel with the addition of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) as an additive to rice husk bio-pellets. Bio-pellets can be made by mixing biomass with an adhesive with a concentration of 15% (w/w), then stirring until homogeneous and put into a pellet mill to be printed. The pellets were dried in the oven for 30 minutes. Characteristically, bio-pellets meet SNI 8021-2014 for the parameters of ash content, fixed carbon content, calorific value, moisture content, and volatile matter content. Applying bio-pellets as a furnace also shows good performance of heat, efficiency, and emission parameters. In conclusion, biopellet is a biomass-based renewable energy fuel with current and promising potential.