OPTIMIZATION OF BIOFUEL PRODUCTION FROM PYROLYSIS OF TERMINALIA CATAPPA PELLETS IN A FIXED BED REACTOR

Abstract

Pyrolysis stands out as an effective thermochemical pathway for transforming biomass to biofuels. This study focused on the optimization of bio oil and bio char production through pyrolysis of Terminalia Catappa Pellets (TCP) using a fixed bed reactor. Box-Behnken Design (BBD) under Response Surface Methodology of Design Expert software version 13.0 was employed for the modelling and optimization of bio char and bio-oil yield at a specified range of temperature (450 – 600 oC), holding time of (15 – 60 mins) and particle size (0.5 – 2.0 mm) within an inert atmosphere fixed bed reactor. The chemical properties of bio-oil were investigated using GC-MS. The maximum bio-oil yield (52.50 %) and bio char (22.80 %) were observed at a temperature of 525oC, holding time (15 mins) and 1.25 mm particle size. The GC-MS showed that bio oil contained acetic acid, I-hydroxyl-2-proanone, and acetic acid-methylester with the highest peak areas of oxygenated compounds. Further processing of these chemicals could make it suitable for industrial applications. The mathematical models for the bio-oil and bio-char through pyrolysis using the BBD indicated a strong fit with coefficient of determination (R2) values of 0.97 and 0.98 respectively. The prediction accuracy suggests that BBD can be applied for prediction of biofuel through pyrolysis of biomass pellets