Title: Energy index for palm oil processing in oil palm mills

Authors: Farid Nasir Ani, Noruzaima Mohamad Nor

Addresses: Fakulti Kejuruteraan Mekanikal, Universiti Teknologi, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor D.T., Malaysia. ' Fakulti Kejuruteraan Mekanikal, Universiti Teknologi, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor D.T., Malaysia

Abstract: Energy conservation helps to reduce the cost of energy generation particularly in oil palm mills. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyse the energy and mass balance, the cost of production, energy conservation and consequently getting the energy index for oil palm mills. There are several oil palm mills operating in Malaysia and in other parts of the world, a few samples have been selected for the energy index study. Many factors effect the energy conservation in the palm oil mills which include the capacity of the mill, good maintenance and using energy efficiency equipments. Energy index has been introduced for the mills that enable them to identify the strengths and weakness of the various sections in processing the palm oil. Thus, the energy index helps to identify the strength and weakness of the various oil palm mills studied. Extra biomass could be converted into some value-added products or sold for added income of the mills.

Keywords: energy index; oil palm mills; mass and energy balance; process capacity; energy conservation; power generation; maintenance; energy efficiency; biomass.

DOI: 10.1504/IJQI.2010.034642

International Journal of Quality and Innovation, 2010 Vol.1 No.2, pp.112 - 123

Published online: 13 Aug 2010 *

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