Trends In The Utilization Of Oil Palm Wastes

The oil palm is a tropical tree crop of economic importance in many African and Asian countries due mostly to its oil bearing fruit and sap. In addition to vegetable oil, the oil palm production industry generates large volumes of biomass wastes and by-products in the form of old oil palm trunks, palm fronds, empty fruit bunches, palm pressed fibers, palm kernel shells, and palm oil mill effluents. Other minor wastes and by-products generated during the oil milling and refining processes include palm kernel meal, palm oil mill sludge, oil palm decanter cake, fatty acid distillate, spent bleaching earth, palm oil fuel ashes, and palm oil clinkers. Research has shown that these by-products could be reused or converted into valuable products in order to minimize the volume of waste generated, and increase the profitability of the palm oil industry. This book presents a body of information on the biomass wastes and by-products produced from oil palm production and processing into oil, and the current research efforts to reuse or convert them into value added products. The book is written in a simple, and understandable format, with the goal being to simplify the available technical research information on the subject for the benefit of the general public. It is hoped that the readers will find the information contained in this book useful, both for business and daily activities.