Production of liquid fuel from co-pyrolysis of jatropha cake with tyre waste

Abstract

This paper introduces the technique that can be used to produce liquid fuel in high quantity, and the technique is called co-pyrolysis technique. Co-pyrolysis is a process which involves two or more materials as feedstock. To the best of my knowledge, there have not been any research about the co-pyrolysis of Jatropha seed cake with tyre waste. The feedstock materials were Jatropha cake and tyre waste. The characterization of the feedstock materials were carried out based on proximate and ultimate analysis. The Jatropha cake with tyre waste were in particle form and were pyrolyzed in an externally heated fixed bed reactor with nitrogen as an inert gas. The reactor was heated by means of electrical furnace. The products of the experiment were: liquid fuel, char and gas. The ratio of jatropha cake to tyre waste materials were 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 respectively. The parameters that has more influence on the production of liquid fuel yields includes: feed ratio, temperature and reaction time. The maximum liquid yield obtained from the co-pyrolysis of Jatropha cake with tyre waste was 68.0 wt% (that is at the parameters of: feed ratio 1:1, temperature 500 oC and reaction time of 45 minutes).