Pyrolysis of Walnut Shell in a Well-Swept Fixed-Bed Reactor

Abstract

Fixed-bed fast pyrolysis experiments have been conducted on a sample of walnut shell to particularly determine the effects of pyrolysis temperature, heating rate, particle size, and sweep gas flow rate on the pyrolysis product yields and their chemical compositions. The maximum oil yield of 31.2% was obtained at the final pyrolysis temperature of 500°C, particle size range of +0.6–1.8 mm, with heating rate of 300°C min−1 and sweep gas flow rate of 100 cm3 min−1 (N2) in a well-swept fixed-bed reactor. Chromatographic and spectroscopic studies on the pyrolytic oil showed that the oil obtained from walnut shell can be used as a renewable fuel and chemical feedstock.