Pyrolyzed Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) as Sustainable and Viable Biomass Reductant in Ferrous Metallurgy
Sri Raj Rajeswari Munusamy, Nur Farhana Diyana Mohd Yunos, Mohd Sobri Idris, Chen Yi Zhen, Nursyafiah Athirah Muhammad Reza, Asshwen Raaj Mohan, Mohammad Nayazy Hairil Abd Wahab
Abstract. This work investigates the effect of temperature and particle size of palm kernel shell in the pyrolysis process and its carbon utilization in ferrous metallurgy. The biomass was reduced into 1-2 mm (coarser) and 63 m (finer) size fractions while iron ore size fixed at 63 m. Biomass particles were heated in a muffle furnace at 10 C/min for 1 hour at 400 C, 600 C and 800 C. Iron ore reduction used the same setup and heating profile but performed at 1000 C. X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulfur (CHNS) analyzer and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) techniques used for evaluation of the raw and reacted samples. CHNS analysis proved the increment of carbon content from 64.5% at 400 C to 70.2% at 800 C compared to 39.6% for raw biomass. Morphologically, the biocarbon changed from fibrous texture to porous structure with interconnected pores. XRD analysis showed the presence of carbon, iron oxide, coesite (silica) and hedenbergite (calcium iron silicate) phases in the pyrolyzed samples. At 600 C, the 63 m size biomass experienced greater weight loss up to 75.02% compared to 71.39% for coarser fractions. Reactions between iron ore and biocarbon reductant, resulted in formations of Fe2O3 (84.45%), SiO2 (7.11%), CaO (2.86%), K2O (2.16%) as the main reaction products and impurity phases. Other specific chemical compositions for steel such as MnO (0.70%), SO3 (1.36%) and P2O5 (1.19%) which influence the properties like strength, toughness and embrittlement are in range and can further be optimized by desulfurization and dephosphorization.
Keywords
Biomass, Desulfurization, Dephosphorization, Ferrous, Pyrolysis
Published online 1/15/2026, 9 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Sri Raj Rajeswari Munusamy, Nur Farhana Diyana Mohd Yunos, Mohd Sobri Idris, Chen Yi Zhen, Nursyafiah Athirah Muhammad Reza, Asshwen Raaj Mohan, Mohammad Nayazy Hairil Abd Wahab, Pyrolyzed Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) as Sustainable and Viable Biomass Reductant in Ferrous Metallurgy, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 60, pp 1-9, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644903971-1
The article was published as article 1 of the book Frontiers of Chemical and Materials Engineering
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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