Abstract
Energy crisis have become a global issue. Africa is one of the great contributors of agricultural produce, however no efficient way is established to covert the agricultural residues to useful products. Therefore, this study was to ascertain the combining effect of the agricultural residues on the yield and quality of bio oil produced. Biomass from cassava peel, rice husk and corn stalk were obtained and prepared. The sulphur and fixed carbon contents of the biomass were less making them more environmentally friendly. Biomass (i.e cassava peel, rice husk, and corn stalk) were mixed in different concentrations of 1:1:1, 2:1:1, 1:2:1, and 1:1:2 respectively and subjected to fast pyrolysis using a fixed bed reactor. The biomass concentration which gave the highest yield of bio-oil was 2:1:1 with a yield of 55.63 %. This yield was reached at a temperature of 525 °C. However, the physicochemical properties of the high yielding bio-oil fairly satisfied the ASTM D7544 standards. Further improvement on the bio-oil will enhance its usefulness as a suitable alternative to diesel.
Highlights
Global energy crisis surfaced since the 1970s due to the heightened demand which resulted in decreasing levels of petroleum resources in the producing countries
Coal was the only source of fossil fuel until 1860s where crude oil became an alternative source
Rice husk, and corn stalk were collected from cassava starch factory, rice farm and maize farm respectively in Kumasi, Ghana
Summary
Global energy crisis surfaced since the 1970s due to the heightened demand which resulted in decreasing levels of petroleum resources in the producing countries. Fuel potential producing biomass include woods, agricultural residues, organic wastes, and aquatic plants [3,4,5,6]. With the aim of producing liquid fuels such as bio oil, current conversion technologies include pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction. The product of pyrolysis include bio-oil, char, and fuel gas whereas that of hydrothermal liquefaction include bio-oil, fuels and chemicals [8]. These two processes produce the same primary product. Several studies have been carried out on the use of agricultural waste such as cassava peels, rice husk, and corn stalk. SciPress applies the CC-BY 4.0 license to works we publish: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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