Potential of fuel and value-added chemical from pyrolysis of rice husk (Oryza Sativa) using fixed-bed reactor

Abstract

Rapid increase in volume and types of waste agricultural biomass, as a result of intensive agriculture is becoming a burgeoning worldwide problem. This bio-renewable energy work based research is to produce and characterize the products from pyrolysis: bio-oil (liquid fuel), bio-char and gasses from Asian Rice Husk (Oryza Sativa) in a fixed-bed reactor. Various heating rate and temperature are investigated in order to find optimum thermochemical parameters for maximum yield of bio-oils. The effects of various pyrolysis heating rates (50, 70, 100, 150) oC/min and temperatures (300, 350, 400, 450, and 500) oC on the yields and compositions of the pyrolysis products were investigated. The maximum bio-oil yield was found to be 28.4 wt.% at pyrolysis heating rate of 70oC and temperature of 400oC under the sweeping gas of N2 with a flow rate of 50 ml/min. It was found that pyrolysis heating rate and temperature had a strong effect on the yields of pyrolysis products. The raw material has been studied and examined using CHONS Elemental Analyzer, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Bomb Calorimeter. Then, the bio-oil obtained in optimum pyrolysis conditions was examined using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) methods. Furthermore, the basic fuel properties of the bio-oils such as pH, kinematic viscosity, and higher heating value (HHV) were also determined. The results showed that the bio-oil obtained from Rice Husk waste might be an important liquid fuel source in presence of alkanes and alkenes functional group and chemical feedstock in presence of alcohol and Esther functional group along with some chemical upgrading