Abstract
This paper tries to assess process yields by performing conventional pyrolysis at an elevated pressure of energy sorghum using a high-pressure batch reactor and evaluates the corresponding product characteristics, respectively. Pyrolysis was performed at 6.9 bar (100 psi) at different temperatures from 400 to 600 °C with heating rates of 4 °C/min. The changes in temperature did not affect the product distribution but significantly affected product characteristics. The H/C molar ratio of bio-oil is at 1.51 while the O/C molar ratio was six times lower than the O/C molar ratio of the sorghum biomass (0.11 vs. 0.67). About 50 % of the bio-oil is composed of aliphatic hydrocarbons (i.e., alkanes and alkenes) and aromatic compounds (i.e., phenolic and benzene derivatives). The carbon distribution lies between C8 and C44 while the distribution of straight chain alkanes exhibited a maximum in the range of C8 to C21, which is found to be in the range of gasoline and diesel fuels. The product bio-char from sorghum biomass is a carbon-rich material with C concentrations of 49 to 52 %wt and was classified under the low- to medium-volatile bituminous coal group according to ASTM standard D388. Lastly, the produced non-condensable gas consisted mainly of CH4 and CO2 with small amounts of CO, H2, and C2H6.
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