Production and characterization of bio-oil from de-oiled cake

Abstract

Linseed de-oil cakes, a source of biomass in the form of agriculture residue, could be an ideal source for the production of bio fuels that can be used as a substitute for the existing conventional fossil fuels which are at the verge of getting extinct. Though there are many biomass conversion processes like pyrolysis, combustion, gasification, liquefaction, hydrogenation, pyrolysis has gained special attention as it can convert biomass directly into solid, liquid and gaseous products by thermal decomposition in absence of oxygen. In this study linseed cake were pyro-lysed at a different temperature range of 350 0C to 600 0C with constant heating rate of 20 0C /min. The maximum liquid yield obtained was 45.26% at a pyrolysis temperature of 525 0C for Linseed De-Oiled cake. The effect of temperature on pyrolysis of liquid product, char, and gaseous product were studied. The various characteristics of liquid product obtained were identified on the basis of standard test methods. Effect of heating rate on the mass loss for all the raw materials were examined using the thermo gravimetric analysis profiles (TGA). The empirical formulas of the bio-oil with heating value were established. The chemical compositions of the bio-oils and char were investigated using FTIR, GC-MS. The fuel properties of the bio-oil such as kinematic viscosity, fire point, flash point, pour point, cloud point, and specific gravity were also determined. After further treatment the oil can be used as chemical feed stock.