Specifications of Exhausted Olive Pomace as an Energy Source: A Statistical Approach
Khalid M. Tawarah
Citation : Khalid M. Tawarah, Specifications of Exhausted Olive Pomace as an Energy Source: A Statistical ApproachInternational Journal of Advanced Research in Chemical Science 2019, 6(1) : 6-15.
Samples of exhausted olive pomace were prepared from six slurry and sun-dried agglomerated raw olive pomace samples via Soxhlet hexane extraction treatment. For the case of exhausted olive pomace, the replicates of the measured percentages of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, ash, calculated oxygen, and the values of the gross and net calorific values were subjected to a thorough statistical analysis method. The results of the statistical analysis were reported as 95% confidence interval of a population mean. The numerical results of the statistical analysis, on dry basis, are: 49.230 ± 0.817 %, 5.888 ± 0.148 %, 1.397 ± 0.199 %, 1.797 ± 0.176 %, 40.716 ± 0.486 %, 20.069 ± 0.635 MJ/Kg, and 18.709 ± 0.605 MJ/Kg for C, H, N, ash, O, gross calorific value and net calorific value, respectively. Comparison of these results with those of the precursor raw olive pomace indicated that the exhausted pomace is enriched with N and O containing compounds. A cost analysis regarding the use of olive pomace as a cheap substitute for the highly-priced kerosene and diesel in home heating resulted in a saving of 260 USD per ton of combusted exhausted olive pomace.