Effect of pyrolysis temperature and catalyst on production of bio-oil and bio-char from avocado seeds

Abstract

The slow pyrolysis of avocado seeds (Persea americana) was performed in a fixed-bed tubular reactor with (KOH, Al2O3) and without a catalyst, at three temperatures ranging from 400 to 600 °C, with heating rates of 50 °C/min. The amounts of bio-char, bio-oil and gas produced, as well as the compositions of the resulting bio-oils, were determined by GC–MS and FT-IR. The influences of pyrolysis parameters, such as temperature and catalysts, on product yields were subsequently investigated. Both temperature and catalysts were determined to be the main factors affecting the conversion (liquid+gas products) of avocado seeds into solid, liquid and gaseous products. The highest liquid yield (37.5 %) including water was obtained using 10 % KOH catalyst at 600 °C at a heating rate of 50 °C/min when employing 0.224 > Dp > 0.150 mm particle size raw material and a 100 cm3/min sweeping gas flow rate.