Analysis of bio-oil production and characterization from duckweed biomass

Abstract

In this study, the production and characterization of bio-oil from duckweed was carried out through a pyrolysis process. The study aim is to produce and characterize bio-oil from duckweed through a pyrolysis process. The method used in the production of bio-oil from duckweed in this study is the pyrolysis method where a fix-bed reactor was connected to a condensers and heat was applied from a gas burner and the temperature was monitored using a thermocouple connected to the reactor and time monitored by a stopwatch until the last drop of product was observed from the system. Analysis of produced bio-oil shows that it is a heavy oil with API gravity of ˚8.73, density value of 1.006 g/cm3 at 22 oC, specific gravity of 1.009 kg/m3 and a high viscosity of 9.32 mm2.s-1. Further analysis resulted in a high flashpoint of 93 oC and a pour point of 14 oC respectively. GC/MS analysis carried out on the bio-oil sample shows that it contains Polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PaH) at different concentrations. The study also showed that the produced bio-oil contains carbon chain compounds; C8-C28. It was concluded that bio-oil produced from duckweed is a potential green alternative to fossil fuels and efforts should be made by relevant bodies to convert the laboratory scale production of duckweed to industrial scale as it will be a good and possible alternative for fossil fuel.