Characterisation of bio-oil and gas from the pyrolysis of several biomass sources in Algeria

Abstract

The goal of this study is to give a detailed characterisation of the pyrolysis products (bio-oil, gas and char) of several biomass sources in Algeria: Ciste of Montpellier (CM), olive kernels (OK), date kernels (DK), Aleppo pine husks (APH) and wheat straw (WS), which can be used to produce power and heat for remote areas such as mountainous or desert locations in Algeria. The pyrolysis of biomass was carried out in a semi-batch reactor at different temperatures (400, 450 and 500 °C). The non-condensable-gas was essentially composed of CO 2 , CO and CH 4 . Low fractions of C 2 H 4 and C 2 H 6 were also observed. For these biomasses, the composition of gas varied between 56.38 and 72.56 % for CO 2 , 27.42–34.35 % for CO and 3.37–7.33 % for CH4. The gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis of bio-oils obtained at different pyrolysis temperatures indicated the presence of complex mixture of organic compounds with high oxygen amount. For this range of temperatures, the composition of bio-oil varied the range of 16.99–31.56 % for carboxylic acids, 1.80–17.06 % for ketones, 4.89–15.20 % for esters and 8.53–16.49 % for phenols.