The objective of this study was to produce briquette from the mixture of pyrolysis products. Palm shell was pyrolyzed at a temperature of 400°C for 2 h holding time and heating rate of 10°C/min. The biochar and bio-oil ratio was prepared at 3:1 weight percentages for briquette. The viscosity of bio-oil was improved to increase the bonding forces. The characterization of biochar, bio-oil, coal and briquette were analyzed and presented in this study. The density and compressive strength of briquette were, respectively, found to be 0.94 gcm-3 and 3.20 Nmm-2. The shatter and water resistance of briquette were established to be 97 and 96 wt. %, respectively. The high heating value (HHV) of briquette was 29.6 MJkg-1 greater than that of Malaysian sub-bituminous coal 24.6 MJkg-1. It implies that the briquette produced is stable, durable and qualitative. Therefore, it can be concluded that the briquette can substitute coal in some applications.
Phenol Formaldehyde (PF) resin has been extensively used in the manufacturing industry as a binding agent, especially in the production of wood-based panels because of its ability to provide good moisture resistance, exterior strength and durability as well as excellent temperature stability. However, due to the use of limited petroleum-based phenol in its formulation, there is a strong interest in exploring renewable biomass material to partially substitute the petroleum-based phenol. In this study, the slow pyrolysis of biomass decomposition process was used to convert two types of biomass, namely, oil palm frond and Rhizophora hardwood, into bio-oil. The phenol-rich fraction of the bio-oil was separated and added into the formulation of PF resin to produce an environmentally-friendly type of PF resin, known as bio-oilphenol-formaldehyde (BPF) resin. This BPF resin was observed to have comparable viscosity, better alkalinity, improved non-volatile content and faster curing temperature than conventional PF resin. Moreover, the particleboard bonded with this BPF resin was observed to have just as excellent bonding strength as the one bonded using conventional PF resin. However, the BPF resin exhibited an increased level of free formaldehyde and less thermal stability than the conventional PF resin, probably due to the addition of the less reactive bio-oil.