Pyrolysis behavior of Indonesia oil sand by TG-FTIR and in a fixed bed reactor

Abstract

The pyrolysis behaviors of oil sand from Indonesia were investigated by thermogravimetry coupled with Fourier Transform infrared Spectrophotometer(TG-FTIR) and in a fixed bed reactor, respectively. Little differences in the mass losses with heating rates were observed. From thermogravi-metric analysis it was established that oil sand pyrolysis consisted of three main stages: water evaporation, devolatilization and decomposition of residues. The evolved gas by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) coupled to the thermobalance was conducted for the identification of the gaseous species and their evolution profiles during oil sand thermal degradation. The results revealed that the main gases and volatile products released are CO2, CO, H2 and CH4, etc. Theoretically, kinetic parameters of gas products were calculated. Pyrolysis experiments of oil sand were conducted in a fixed-bed reactor to obtain the oil sand char at different terminal temperature. The FTIR experiment was performed to analyze various functional groups of solid samples. The aromatic hydrocarbon, aliphatic hydrocarbon, hydroxyl and the oxygen functional groups were determined. Each functional group curve was analyzed to receive the degree of rich hydrogen, the structure of the aliphatic hydrocarbon, aromaticity and other parameters.