Pressurized pyrolysis of dried distillers grains with solubles and canola seed press cake in a fixed-bed reactor

Abstract

Pressurized pyrolysis of biomasses was carried in a fixed bed reactor to obtain gases, bio-oils and chars at elevated temperatures. The products were characterized by GC–MS, FTIR, viscometer, SEM, BET and EDXRFS methods. Experiments were performed at 1, 5 and 10bar pressure and 400, 500 and 600°C temperatures. The experimental results show that in all the experimental condition the yield of bio-oil from DDGS as higher than that of canola. Yield of non-condensable gases and chars increased, while that of liquid products decreased by pressure. Increasing pressure favoured the formation of low molecular weight gas, such as H2. Maximum surface area of chars was obtained at atmospheric pressure and the surface areas decreased rapidly with increasing pressure. GC/MS results shows that the amount of fatty acids in bio-oils was increased by increasing pressure and bio-oils showed non-Newtonian behavior. Based on EDXRFS results, bio-oils and char contained lots of elements.