Product Distribution in the Low Temperature Conventional Pyrolysis of Nigerian Corn Stalks.

Abstract

In view of the global energy crises and the ongoing renewable energy studies, clear understanding of the product distribution in the pyrolysis of lignocellulose from different corn plant components is required. Unextracted lignocellulose from the dry corn stalks was pyrolysed at 200oC and 250oC for 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes and 120 minutes, respectively in an in house reactor. Liquid (bio-oil), gaseous and solid (bio-char) products were obtained. Their volumes and masses were determined. The volumes of the liquid and gaseous products produced increased with retention time and temperature while the masses of the solid products decreased with retention time and temperature. The pyrolysed corn stalks produced 17.93% bio-oil, 43.33% bio-char and 38.74% gases. The reaction order and rate constants were determined. The reaction was found to be first order. The bio-oil compounds that were detected by GCMS were identified from the MS library and characterized into: acids, ester, alcohol, phenol, alkane, multicomponent compounds and miscellaneous oxygenates. The bio-oils samples obtained were shown to be comparable with those produced by other processes.