Liquid smoke characteristics from the pyrolysis of oil palm fronds

This study was conducted as means to characterize the pyrolysis of oil palm fronds into more economical products. In particular, this study was focused on pyrolysis of oil palm fronds, which could generate products such as liquid smoke, tar and char. Four characteristics of liquid smoke were examined in this study, namely the yield of liquid smoke, phenolic content, total acid content and pH. These characteristics were examined in a temperature of 150 degrees C, 200 degrees C and 250 degrees C with processing time of 60 minutes, 90 minutes and 120 minutes. This study revealed that the highest yield of liquid smoke was equal to 43.47% at a temperature of 150 degrees C for approximately 2 hours, while the highest level of phenolic was obtained at a temperature of 250 degrees C for approximately 1 hour. Moreover, the highest total acid content obtained was 11.23% at a temperature of 150 degrees C with a time of 1 hour. In addition, all operating conditions has produced liquid smoke with an average pH value of 3.