Production of Synthesis Gas/High-Btu Gaseous Fuel from Pyrolysis of Biomass-Derived Oil

Abstract

Depletion of fossil fuels is creating opportunities in exploring alternative sources of energy. Biomass materials, being renewable, have attracted attention as a potential source of energy such as electricity, fuel gases, and transport fuels, etc. At present, technologies exist to pyrolyze biomass to produce a liquid product, namely, biomass-derived oil (BDO). This BDO has found a variety of applications. In this investigation, a systematic study was carried out on the pyrolysis of BDO at various temperatures in a tubular reactor at atmospheric pressure. BDO was fed at a flow rate of 4.5 to 5.5 g/h along with nitrogen (18−54 mL/min) as a carrier gas. Conversion of BDO was up to 83 wt % where gas production was 45 L/100 g of BDO at 800 °C and a constant nitrogen flow rate of 30 mL/min. The gas product essentially consisted of H2, CH4, CO, CO2, C2, C3, and C4+ hydrocarbons. Composition of product gas ranged between syn gas 16−36 mol %, CH4 19−27 mol %, and C2H4 21−31 mol %. Heating values ranged between 1300 and 1700 Btu/SCF. Thus, the present study shows that there is a strong potential for making syn gas, methane, ethylene, and high-heating-value Btu gas from the pyrolysis of BDO.