Preliminary Technoeconomical Study of Water Hyacinth Utilization into Solid Fuel and Liquid Fertilizer using Wet Torrefaction Process

• Main Author: SETYAWAN MOEKTI (NIM : 13114135), BHAGASKARA
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/26098
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

<p align="justify">Water hyacinth problem that occurs in the Cirata Dam must be solved immediately. Until now, the dam management has been trying to remove this plant from the dam, and getting 8-12 tons of water hyacinth per day, where most of the plants became waste. Utilization of this plant is needed, and one of the offered method is by using wet torrefaction process to produce saleable solid fuel and liquid fertilizer. <br /> <br /> Wet torrefaction process is a thermochemical process using water as its medium in high pressure and temperature. In this research, the temperature and residence time of wet torrefaction process were varied at the temperature range of 150, 175 and 200 °C and residence time of 0 and 30 min. The solid products were tested in bomb calorimeter for their higher heating values, and the liquid products were tested in NPK meter to obtain their macronutrients content. From both products, optimization was needed to get a product which fulfills the standard and requires lowest energy. Moreover, the application of wet torrefaction process must be reviewed from technoeconomical aspect as a combination of energy and economical aspect. <br /> <br /> The result from this experiment showed that the optimum parameters were 200 °C of temperature with no residence time. Wet torrefaction produced solid products with heating value equal to sub bituminous C, and liquid products that passed the standard from Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture. In the energy aspect, additional energy supply was needed because of the energy deficits. In the economical aspect, from the sales of liquid fertilizer, the dam management will get profits of up to Rp.21.246.928 per batch. The results indicate that wet torrefaction treatment can be applied in the Cirata Dam to process water hyacinth into solid fuel and liquid fertilizer.<p align="justify">