Trends and Effective Use of Energy Input in the Palm Kernel Oil Mills

Abstract

This work aims at studying the importance and the efficiency of energy use in a few palm kernel oil mills selected for their representativity. Pattern of energy use, the cost of energy per unit product, energy intensity and normalized performance indicator (NPI) were determined. Results show that the medium and the large mills depend largely on fossil fuel; while the small mill depends on electricity. It was found out that the large mill has the most effective use of energy with high energy intensity. The annual cost of energy per unit product of N8,360,000 ($64,307.69); N12,262,250 ($94,325) and N13,353,870 ($102, 722.08) were obtained for small, medium and large mills respectively. The NPI results show that there was no wastage of energy through space heating in energy supplied for production within the factory site.

Keywords

• Palm kernel
• Energy use
• Energy intensity
• Fuel
• Mills
• Nigeria