Effect of temperature on product performance of a high ash biomass during fast pyrolysis and its bio-oil storage evaluation

Abstract

Bio-oil from the fast pyrolysis of agro-residues still needs to contemplate different production scenarios to look for its feasibility. For this reason, in this work the effect of a range of fast pyrolysis temperature (450, 480, 510 and 550°C) processing rape straw biomass (with high K content) has been studied in a continuous bubbling fluidised bed reactor. It was found that the catalytic effect of the inorganic content was different at each fast pyrolysis temperature, with the lower temperatures resulting in the highest yield of bio-oil due to minor catalytic effect (up to 41.39wt%). It was also found that at 480°C the bio-oil presented the best combination of physico-chemical features such as non-separation phase and the lowest water content; yield (39.65wt%) and HHV (19.23MJ/kg), containing a high concentration of phenolic compounds. At the fast pyrolysis temperature of 510°C and 550°C, the conjunction effect of temperature and the catalytic effect provoked bio-oil separation into two phases and a higher gas yield than was expected. Then, the higher temperatures are not suitable for bio-oil production. Char is also an interesting co-product for all pyrolysis temperatures.