Pyrolysis of Woody Biomass for Sustainable Bio-oil

Abstract

Fast pyrolysis utilizes biomass to produce a product that is used both as an energy source and a feedstock for chemical production. Considerable efforts have been made to convert wood biomass to liquid fuels and chemicals since the oil crisis in the mid-1970s. Virtually any form of biomass can be considered for fast pyrolysis. The effect of the wood composition and structure, heating rate, and residence time during pyrolysis on the overall reaction rate and the yield of the volatiles are discussed. In this study, fast pyrolysis of hazelnut cupula was investigated experimentally in a fixed-bed reactor under various conditions. Hazelnut cupula, an agricultural by-product, was selected as raw material for pyrolysis experiments. The fixed-bed fast pyrolysis experiments have been conducted on a sample of hazelnut cupula in a fixed-bed reactor to determine, in particular, the effects of pyrolysis temperature, heating rate, particle size, and sweep gas flow rate on the pyrolysis product yields. The reactor was heated at a heating rate of 200°C per minute to a pyrolysis temperature of 400, 500, 600, and 700°C. Experiments show that pyrolysis yields and conversion efficiencies depended mainly on pyrolysis temperature and 600°C was the most suitable for decomposition of the hazelnut cupula to reach a maximum oil yield.