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Pyrolytic oil, also called pyrolysis oil or bio-oil is a synthetic fuel produced
perceptible proportion of water from both the original moisture and reaction
product. [1].
All pyrolysis oils derived from biomass elementally resemble the source
biomass and consist of the main elements carbon (3248 wt%), oxygen (4560
wt%), hydrogen (6.98.6 wt%), sulfur (00.05 wt%), and nitrogen (00.2 wt%) [2].
Pyrolysis oils are principally composed of water (1530 wt%) and a wide variety of
organic components which include organic acids such as formic, acetic, and
The oil is formed by rapidly quenching and thus freezing the intermediate
thus contains many reactive species, which contribute to its unusual attributes. [4].
Pyrolysis oil is a dark brown, acidic, viscous, and energy-rich liquid with a
to dark green, depending on the initial feedstock and the mode of pyrolysis. [5]
different molecular weights that are mainly derived from rapid and simultaneous
cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The abundance of organic acids within the
pyrolysis oil leads to a low pH of 23. [6] It is miscible with polar solvents such as
methanol, acetone, etc. but totally immiscible with petroleum-derived fuels. This is
due to the high oxygen content similar to that of biomass, and is responsible for
chemical instability and leads to a wide range of both boiling point temperature and
The effect of water in oil is also complex and important. The oil contains
from about 15 wt.% to an upper limit of about 30-50 wt.% water, depending on the
feed material, how it was produced and collected. Pyrolysis liquids can tolerate the
addition of some water, but there is a limit to the amount of water which can be
added to the liquid before phase separation occurs, in other words the liquid cannot
heating value which means that more liquid is required to meet a given duty; and
The density of the oil is very high at around 1200 kg t-1, compared with light
fuel oil at around 0.85 kg/L. This means that the liquid has about 42% of the energy
content of fuel oil on a weight basis, but 61% on a volumetric basis. This has
implications for the design and specification of equipment such as pumps and
Temperatures between 500 and 600 C provide the highest yields of oil,
other hand, pyrolytic oil from plastics has a higher heating value, about 30 45
Physical properties such as viscosity, the research octane number and the motor
octane number, pour point, flash point or Diesel index could be a good indication
of pyrolytic oil quality as a fuel [8]. The heating value of oils from mixed plastic
recovered from the vapour phase. If the liquid is heated to 100 C or more to try to
remove water or distil off lighter fractions, it rapidly reacts and eventually produces
a solid residue of around 50 wt.% of the original liquid and some distillate
containing volatile organic compounds and water. While bio-oil has been
successfully stored for several years in normal storage conditions in steel and
plastic drums without any deterioration that would prevent its use in any of the
applications tested to date, it does change slowly with time, most noticeably there
is a gradual increase in viscosity. More recent samples that have been distributed
develops. [10]
Uses of Pyrolytic Oil
The properties of pyrolysis oil, such as its high corrosiveness, high viscosity,
instability, highly oxidative character, complexity, and diversity make its application
include being a substitute for fuel oil or diesel in many static applications including
boilers, furnaces, engines and turbines for electricity generation [11-13], its
upgrading to potential transport fuels [14], or its utilization as a feedstock for the
production of adhesives [15], resins [16], and fertilizers [17]. It is also used as a
commercial food flavoring such as barbecue flavor [18]. Because of their high
oxygen and water contents, pyrolysis oils exhibit heating values of about 13 18
MJ/kg, which is only 4050% of that for hydrocarbon fuels [19]. Also due to the
much larger quantities of alkylated (poly-) phenols [20], they can be used for the
and gas products; however, a solid fraction called pyrolytic char is also produced.
This char is mainly composed of a carbon-rich matrix that contains almost all the
products but about 25% of the energy of the biomass feed. It can be used within
on the reactor configuration and gas velocities, a large part of the char will be of a
comparable size and shape as the biomass fed. The fresh char is pyrophoric i.e. it
required. This property deteriorates with time due to oxidation of active sites on the
char surface.
comparable with typical coal. However, as expected some heavy metals and other
hazardous elements, like S, Cl and N, may also be retained in the solid products.
Therefore, it is important to fully characterize chars to assess their impact on the
a reactive or non-reactive filler when used as additive for plastics and composites
[23]. This product can also be combusted to provide energy for the pyrolysis
process or other purposes. Char obtained in pyrolysis is not only a good fuel, but
it can also be processed into activated carbon. This possible application was
[2]. Oasmaa, A. and Czernik, S. (1999) Fuel oil quality of biomass pyrolysis
oils state of the art for the end users. Energy Fuels 13, 914921
different woods. In Pyrolysis Oils from Biomass (ACS Symposium Series), pp.
Publication; 2010.
woods.
Pyrolysis Oils from Biomass (ACS Symposium Series). American Chemical
1997. p. 433e47.
[8] Khan MZH, Sultana M, Al-Mamun MR, Hasan MR. Pyrolytic Waste Plastic
doi:10.1155/2016/7869080.
Pyrolysis of
2010;30:620
7. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2011.05.021.
[11] Beran, M. and Axelsson, L.-U. (2014) Application of pyrolysis oil in the
[12] Kasper, J.M. et al. (1983) Use of pyrolysis-derived fuel in a gas turbine
engine. In Turbo Expo: Power for Land, Sea, and Air (Vol. 3): Coal, Biomass and
Alternative Fuels; Combustion and Fuels; Oil and Gas Applications; Cycle
[16] Sukhbaatar, B. et al. (2009) Use of lignin separated from bio-oil in oriented
[19] Oasmaa, A. and Czernik, S. (1999) Fuel oil quality of biomass pyrolysis
oils state of the art for the end users. Energy Fuels 13, 914921
[20] Mohan D, Pittman CU, Steele PH. Pyrolysis of wood/biomass for bio-oil:
A critical review.
doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2015.02.016.
pyrolysis of ulin
The effect of
temperature and heating rate on char properties obtained from solar pyrolysis of
beech wood.