The wood processing industry produces a significant amount of wood waste. Biomass valorization through pyrolysis has the potential to increase the added value of wood wastes. Pyrolysis is an important thermochemical process that can produce solid, liquid, and gas products. This paper aims to review the pyrolysis of wood wastes from Indonesia, including teak wood (Tectona grandis), meranti (Shorea sp.), sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria (L) Nielsen), and rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis). The review is based on an in-depth study of reliable literatures, statistical data from government agencies, and direct field observations. The results showed that pyrolysis could be a suitable process to increase the added value of wood waste. Currently, slow pyrolysis is the most feasible for Indonesia, with the main product of charcoal. The efficiency of the slow pyrolysis process can be increased by harvesting also liquid and gaseous products. The use of the main product of pyrolysis in the form of charcoal needs to be developed and diversified. Charcoal is not only used for fuel purposes but also as a potential soil improvement agent.

The efficiency of biogas production in semi-continuous anaerobic digester is influenced by several factors, among other is loading rate. This research aimed at determining the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the biogas yield. Experiment was conducted using lab scale self-designed anaerobic digester of 36-L capacity with substrate of a mixture of fresh cow dung and water at a ratio of 1:1. Experiment was run with substrate initial amount of 25 L and five treatment variations of HRT, namely 1.31 gVS/L/d (P1), 2.47 gVS/L/d (P2), 3.82 gVS/L/d (P3), 5.35 gVS/L/d (P4) and 6.67 gVS/L/d (P5). Digester performance including pH, temperature, and biogas yield was measured every day. After stable condition was achieved, biogas composition was analyzed using a gas chromatograph. A 10-day moving average analysis of biogas production was performed to compare biogas yield of each treatment. Results showed that digesters run quite well with average pH of 6.8-7.0 and average daily temperature 28.7-29.1. The best biogas productivity (77.32 L/kg VSremoval) was found in P1 treatment (organic loading rate of 1.31 g/L/d) with biogas yield of 7.23 L/d. With methane content of 57.23% treatment P1 also produce the highest methane yield. Biogas production showed a stable rate after the day of 44. Modified Gompertz kinetic equation is suitable to model daily biogas yield as a function of digestion time.Article History: Received March 24th 2018; Received in revised form June 2nd 2018; Accepted June 16th 2018; Available onlineHow to Cite This Article: Haryanto, A., Triyono, S., and Wicaksono, N.H. (2018) Effect of Loading Rate on Biogas Production from Cow Dung in A Semi Continuous Anaerobic Digester. Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 7(2), 93-100.https://doi.org/10.14710/ijred.7.2.93-100

The present study investigates the quality changes of wood bio-briquette fuel after the addition of spent coffee ground (SCG) into the initial feedstock materials (sawdust, shavings) in different mass ratios (1:1, 1:3). Analysis of SCGs fuel parameter proved great potential for energy generation by a process of direct combustion. Namely, level of calorific value (GCV = 21.58 MJ∙kg⁻¹), of ash content (Ac = 1.49%) and elementary composition (C = 55.49%, H = 7.07%, N = 2.38%, O = 33.41%) supports such statement. A comparison with results of initial feedstock materials exhibited better results of SCG in case of its calorific value and elementary composition. Bulk density ρ (kg·m⁻³) and mechanical durability DU (%) of bio-briquette samples from initial feedstock materials were following for sawdust: ρ = 1026.39 kg·m⁻³, DU = 98.44% and shavings: ρ = 1036.53 kg·m⁻³, DU = 96.70%. The level of such mechanical quality indicators changed after the addition of SCG. Specifically, SCG+sawdust mixtures achieved ρ = 1077.49 kg·m⁻³ and DU = 90.09%, while SCG + shavings mixtures achieved ρ = 899.44 kg·m⁻³ and DU = 46.50%. The addition of SCG increased wood bio-briquettes energy potential but decreased its mechanical quality. Consequently, the addition of SCG in wood bio-briquette has advantages, but its mass ratio plays an important key role.

The objective this research was to investigate the effect of urea addition on the biogas yield from co-digestion of rice straw and cow dung using semi-continuous anaerobic digester. The experiment was conducted by using self-made semi-continuous anaerobic digester having a working volume of 30 L. Cow dung was provided from Department of Animal Husbandry, University of Lampung; while rice straw was collected from farmer at Way Galih, Tanjung Bintang, South Lampung. Rice straw was sun-dried to about 12% of moisture content and then ground into fine particles. Cow dung and ground straw were mixed at a dung-to-straw ratio of 3:1 based on total solid (TS) and four different urea additions (0, 0.25, 0.65, and 1.30 g/L) were applied to have a C/N ratio between 20 and 30. The mixture was diluted with water to create TS content of 10%. As much as 30 L of the substrate mixture was introduced into the digester as a starting load. The same substrate was added daily at a loading rate of 0.5 L/d. The experiment was made in triplicate and observation was performed for two months. Total and volatile solids of influent and effluent and daily biogas production were observed. The biogas quality was measured by its methane content using gas chromatography. Results showed that urea addition influenced the biogas yield and its quality. Substrate mixture with urea addition of 0.25 g/L (C/N ratio of 27.3) was the best in terms of biogas yield (434.2 L/kgVSr), methane content (50.12%), and methane yield (217.6 L/kgVSr).

This research aims to study the first-order kinetics of biodiesel production from used frying oil (UFO) through transesterification with methanol. Used frying oil was collected from fried peddlers around the campus of the University of Lampung. Technical grade methanol and NaOH catalyst were purchased from a local chemical supplier. The experiment was carried out with 100 ml of UFO at various combinations of oil to methanol molar ratio (1:4, 1:5, and 1:6), reaction temperatures(30 to 55oC, the ramping temperature of 5o C), and reaction time of 0.25 to 10 minutes. First-order kinetic was employed using 126 data pairs (87.5%). The acquired kinetic model was validated using 18 data sets (12.5%) observed at a reaction time of eight min. Results show that biodiesel yield was increased with reaction time, its molar ratio, and temperature. The maximum return of 78.44% was achieved at 55oC and molar ratio of 1:6. The kinetic analysis obtains the reaction rate constant (k) in the range of 0.045 to 0.130. The value of k increases with the reaction temperature and molar ratio. The analysis also reveals the average activation energy (Ea) of the UFO transesterification reaction with methanol and NaOH catalyst to be 21.59 kJ/mol. First-order kinetic is suitable to predict biodiesel yield from UFO because of low %RMSE (3.39%) and high R2 (0.8454