Production of Bio-Oil from Biomass: Slow Pyrolysis of Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) in a Fixed-Bed Reactor

Abstract

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) pyrolysis experiments were performed in a fixed-bed reactor. The effects of heating rate, final pyrolysis temperature, particle size, and pyrolysis atmosphere on pyrolysis product yields and chemical compositions have been investigated. The maximum oil yield of 51.7% was obtained at a pyrolysis temperature of 550°C with particle sizes in the range of +0.6 to 1.8 mm in a sweeping gas atmosphere (100 cm3 min−1 N2) and a heating rate of 30°C min−1. The chemical characterization has shown that the oil obtained from rapeseed may be potentially valuable as fuels and chemical feedstocks.