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Procedia Engineering 125 (2015) 298 – 303

The 5th International Conference of Euro Asia Civil Engineering Forum (EACEF-5)

Correlation equation to predict HHV of tropical peat based on

its ultimate analyses
Wiwiek Setyawatia,b,*, Enri Damanhuric, Puji Lestaric, Kania Dewic
a
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Bandung Institute of Technology , Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
b
Centre for Atmospheric Science and Technology, LAPAN, Jl. Dr Djundjunan 133, Bandung 40173, Indonesia
c
Graduate Program, Bandung Institute of Technology , Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia

Abstract

The aim of the research is to develop correlation equation to predict HHV of tropical peat based on its ultimate analysis. The
Eijkelkamp peat sampler was employed to take samples of peat in five different districts in Pontianak, Indonesia. Samples were
taken up to 2 m depth with 50 cm increments therefore total 20 samples were obtained. Ultimate analyses and higher heating
value (HHV) of peat were evaluated in order to predict HHV based on its ultimate analyses results. It was found that C, H, O, S,
N and ash contents in dry bases (in weight %) had ranges of 15.63 – 59.43%, 2.63 – 6.47%, 13.35 – 36.84%, 0.12 – 3.86%, 0.48
– 2.01% and 1.00 – 64.05%, respectively. HHV had ranges of 8.07 – 21.69 MJ/kg. Based on chemical composition of dry peat
therefore new equation formulae to predict HHV peat was HHV = 17.830 + 1.508 H + 0.102 N + 0.575 S – 0.192 O-0.205 Ash,
with an average absolute error and bias error of 2.18% and 0.17%, respectively.
2015Published
© 2015 The Authors. Published
by Elsevier Ltd. by Elsevier
This Ltd.access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
is an open
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of The 5th International Conference of Euro Asia Civil Engineering
Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of The 5th International Conference of Euro Asia Civil Engineering
Forum (EACEF-5).
Forum (EACEF-5)
Keywords: Tropical peat; Pontianak; ultimate analysis, high heating value; prediction.

1. Introduction

Due to energy crisis in Indonesia resulted from excessive exploitation of fossil fuels, alternative energy resources
must be asssesed. Peat can be a promising one as Indonesia has the largest tropical peatland in the world with total
area about 21 million ha [1] with depth reached more than 3 meters in some parts of Sumatera and Kalimantan [2].

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +62 226037445; fax: +62 226037443.

E-mail address: wiwieksetyawat21@gmail.com

1877-7058 © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of The 5th International Conference of Euro Asia Civil Engineering Forum (EACEF-5)
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2015.11.048
 Wiwiek Setyawati et al. / Procedia Engineering 125 (2015) 298 – 303 299

Finland and Sweden are examples of two developed countries that had largely used peat as energy sources for
generating heat and electricity.
It is estimated that Indonesian peat stores about 10,252 - 25,547 Mtonnes carbon [3] thus combustion process to
produce energy will largely emit green house gases as well as pollutant to the atmosphere. Therefore many attempts
had been carried out by designing and operating biomass combustion system that can reduce the emission. They
significantly relies on biomass characteristics such as the calorific value, moisture content, elemental composition,
ash properties, etc [4].
The calorific value is the most important property which determines the asessment of the value of a biomass as a
fuel [5][6]. Therefore it determines significantly whether a fuel can be explored as an economical and environmental
energy source. It can be measured experimentally or calculated from ultimate/proximate analysis results [4][6][7].
The calorific value is defined as the amount of heat evolved when a unit weight of biomass is burnt completely and
the combustion products cooled to a standard temperature of 298 K [7]. It can be expressed as higher heating value
(HHV) (also termed gross calorific value, GVC) and measured experimentally by using a bomb calorimeter.
Experimental measurements of HHV and ultimate analysis are expensive and require highly trained analyst.
Nevertheless correlation can be developed to predict calorific value from ultimate analysis data to overcome the
problems.
Pontianak is located in West Kalimantan. Peatland in Pontianak covers about 482,190 ha, or about 27.87% of
total peat area in West Kalimantan [8]. This research aims to analyse chemical characteristics of Pontianak’s peat
and also to produce accurate prediction of peat’s calorific value based on its ultimate analysis data.

2. Method

Peat was sampled from five different regions in Pontianak, West Kalimantan as shown in Fig. 1 by utilizing
Eijkelkamp peat sampler [9]. Twenty samples were obtained. Samples were dried in the oven at 105 0C for 24
hours, then grounded and sieved to 100 mesh. Ultimate analysis methods used in the study are shown in Table 1.
Calorific value was measured by using an oxygen bomb calorimeter type 1108 PARR 1261.
Pearson correlation as shown in equation (1) and multiple linear regression equation as shown in equation (2)
were applied in order to examine the correlation and also to develope new equation between ultimate analysis data
and HHV.
௡ሺσ ௫௬ሻିሺσ ௫ሻሺσ ௬ሻ
‫ ݎ‬ൌ (1)
ඥሾ௡ σ ௫ మ ିሺσ ௫ሻమ ሿሾ௡ σ ௬ మ ିሺσ ௬ሻమ ሿ

where x = element measured in ultimate analysis ( % dry mass), y = HHV (MJ/kg) and n = number of data.
‫ ݕ‬ൌ ܽ଴ ൅ ܽଵ ‫ݔ‬ଵ ൅ ܽଶ ‫ݔ‬ଶ ൅ ‫ ڮ‬൅ ܽ௡ ‫ݔ‬௡ ൅ ߝ (2)
where y = HHV (MJ/kg), x = element mesured in ultimate analysis (% dry mass) and H = error term.
The estimations are compared with the measured HHV’s to evaluate the correlation by employing statistical
parameters: average absolute error (AAE), average bias error (ABE) and coefficient of determination (R2) as shown
in equation (3), (4) and (5), respectively [4].
ଵ ுு௏ಶ ିுு௏ಾ
‫ ܧܣܣ‬ൌ  σ௡௜ୀଵ ቚ ቚ ൈ ͳͲͲΨ (3)
௡ ுு௏ಾ
ଵ ுு௏ಶ ିுு௏ಾ
‫ ܧܤܣ‬ൌ  σ௡௜ୀଵ ൈ ͳͲͲΨ (4)
௡ ுு௏ಾ
തതതതതതതതത
ሺுு௏ ିுு௏ మ
೘ሻ
ܴଶ ൌ σ௡௜ୀଵ ሺுு௏ ಶ തതതതതതതതത ሻ మ (5)
೘ ିுு௏೘

Where subscript E and M denotes the estimated and measured values, respectively, ‫ܸܪܪ‬ തതതതതതതത
௠ is average of HHV
measured and n is the number of samples. AAE indicates the average error of correlation, therefore the lower it is, a
smaller error of the correlation. A positive ABE value implies an overall overestimation while a negative one means
an underestimation.
300 Wiwiek Setyawati et al. / Procedia Engineering 125 (2015) 298 – 303

Fig. 1. Five different locations where peats were sampled

Table 1. Ultimate analysis and method used

Elements Methods
C ASTM D.5373 (ASTM, 1993)
H ASTM D.5373 (ASTM, 1993)
O ASTM D.3176 (ASTM, 1989)
N ASTM D.5373 (ASTM, 1993)
S ASTM D.4239 (ASTM, 1997)
Ash ASTM D.3174 (ASTM, 2012)

3. Result and Discussion

Ultimate analyses and HHV measured for each peat samples and its comparison to other studies are shown in
Table 2. Study of thousands of peat samples in Sumatera and Kalimantan [10] indicated that more mature peat had
higher carbon and less ash contents. Peat sampled from Teluk Pulau, South Sumatera [11] showed slighly higher C
and N but less H and ash contents than Pontianak’s peat. It can be implied that former peat was more mature than
latter one. The result were relevant as peat in Eastern coast of Sumatera and Western Kalimantan were both
categorised as coastal peat and dated from 7000 and 4000 cal BP [12]. Indonesian peats have various HHV but were
relatively similar to Finland’s and Netherland’s peats although the former was composed of mosly lignin and the
latters were cellulose [13]. Ash content of Finland’s and Netherland’s peat was relatively smaller than Indonesia peat
that indicated higher mineral matter contents in the latter one [14].
The HHV is plotted as a function of C, H, N, S, O and ash contents as shown in Fig. 2 to qualitatively study the
correlation between the HHV and ultimate analysis data. It implies that HHV increases with increase of C, H, N and
O contents as shown in Fig. 2a), b), c) and e), respectively. On the contrary, HHV decreases with increase of S and
ash contents as described in Fig. 2d) and f), respectively.
 Wiwiek Setyawati et al. / Procedia Engineering 125 (2015) 298 – 303 301

Table 2. Ultimate analysis and HHV of peats measured and their comparison to other’s studies

C (%) H (%) O (%) N (%) S (%) Ash (%) HHV (MJ/kg)

Pontianak, West Kalimantan 53.49a 5.76a (2.63b– 30.44a 1.36a 0.52a 8.43a 19.36a
(15.63b–59.43c) 6.47c) (13.35b–36.84c) (0.48b–2.01c) (0.12 –3.86 ) (1.00b-64.05c)
b c
(8.07b–21.69c)
10.30d 0.87d 5.35d 0.37d 0.91d 15.30d 3.09d
20e 20e 20e 20e 20 e
20e 20e
Teluk Pulau, South Sumatera 54.7 4.90 2.12 6.55
[11] 1e 1e 1e 1e
Pontianak city, West 0.13b–0.15c 6.5b–24.6c 14.3b–16.9c
Kalimantan [14] 12e 12e 12e
Pontianak, Rasau Jaya, West b
0.55 -0.74 c
2.0 –40.9c
b
11.1b–27.2c
e
Kalimantan [14] 7 7e 7e
Riau province, Sumatera [14] 0.29 10.7 25.6
1e 1e 1e
Finland [14] 0.05b-0.2c 1.1b-14.6c 18.6b-22.0c
Netherlands [14] 0.19 1.2 22.7
Note: a = average, b = minimum, c = maximum, d = standard deviation, e = number of samples

Pearson correlations with 0.05 significance level as described in equation (1) are carried out to examine the
relation between ultimate analysis data to HHV of peats as shown in Table 3. There is a strong and positive
correlation between C and HHV and also between H and HHV with correlation coefficient values of 0.977 and
0.976, respectively. Therefore increase of C and H contents of peat lead to increase of HHV. On the contrary there is
also a strong but negative correlation between S and HHV and also between ash and HHV with correlation
coeficient values of -0.914 and -0.950, respectively. Hence the higher S or ash contents, the less HHV of peat.
Therefore it is highly favourable to have large contents of C and H, but not S and ash contents. O and N contents
have moderate correlation with HHV with correlation coefficient values of 0.789 and 0.624, respectively. As
significance values of correlation between HHV and all elements are all below 0.05, therefore it can be concluded
that C, H, O, N, S and ash contents of peat are all significantly correlated with HHV.
Table 3. Pearson correlation between each elements and HHV of peats

C (%) H (%) O (%) N (%) S (%) Ash (%)

HHV(Mj/kg) 0.977a (p = 0.000b) 0.976a (p = 0.000b) 0.789a (p = 0.000b) 0.624a (p = 0.002b) -0.914a (p =0.000b) -0.950a (p = 0.000b)
Note: a = Pearson’s correlation coefficient, b = significance (1-tail)

Multiple linear regression equation as described in equation (2) is applied to predict HHV based on ultimate
analysis data. The equation proposed is HHV = 17.830 + 1.508 H + 0.102 N + 0.575 S – 0.192 O – 0.205 ash, with
AAE and ABE values of 2.18%, and 0,17%, respectively which are very small indeed. The R2 value is 0.97. The
positive ABE value means that the estimated HHV’s are only 0.17% overestimated. The predictions of HHV based
on the elemental composition are compared with the measurements in Fig. 3. It is clear that this new equation can be
applied to estimate HHV values of tropical peat accurately.
302 Wiwiek Setyawati et al. / Procedia Engineering 125 (2015) 298 – 303

25 25

20 20
HHV (MJ/kg)

HHV (MJ/kg)
15 15
10
10
5
5
0
0
0 2 4 6 8
0 20 40 60 80
H (% dry mass)
C (% dry mass)

(a) (b)

25
4.5
20 4.0
HHV (MJ/kg)

3.5
HHV (MJ/kg)
15 3.0
2.5
10
2.0
5 1.5
1.0
0 0.5
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 0.0
0 10 20 30
N (% dry mass) S (% dry mass)

(c) (d)

25 25

20 20
HHV (MJ/kg)

HHV (MJ/kg)

15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0
0 10 20 30 40 0 20 40 60 80
O (% dry mass) Ash (% dry mass)

(e) (f)

Fig.2. HHV is correlated with ultimate analysis data of peat a) C, b) H, c) N, d) S, e) O and f) ash .
 Wiwiek Setyawati et al. / Procedia Engineering 125 (2015) 298 – 303 303

25

HHV estimated (MJ/kg)

20

15

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
HHV measured (MJ/kg)

Fig. 3. Correlation between HHV estimated and HHV measured of peats

4. Conclusion

It can be concluded that elemental composition of peat are significantly correlated to its HHV, an important
parameter to determine its value as a fuel. Indonesia peat has similar rank to Finland’s and Netherland’s peats which
is showed in their similarity of HHV’s although the former has higher mineral matter contents. The new equation
developed: HHV = 17.830 + 1.508 H + 0.102 N + 0.575 S – 0.192 O – 0.205 ash, can be employed confidently to
estimate HHV values of tropical peats especially Pontianak’s based on their ultimate analysis data.

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