Fixed bed pyrolysis of biomass solid waste

for bio-oil
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 1875, 020015 (2017); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4998369
Published Online: 08 August 2017

Mohammad Nurul Islam, Mohamed Hairol Md Ali and Miftah Haziq

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AIP Conference Proceedings 1875, 020015 (2017); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4998369 1875, 020015

© 2017 Author(s).
 FIXED BED PYROLYSIS OF BIOMASS SOLID WASTE FOR BIO-OIL

Mohammad Nurul Islam*, Mohamed Hairol Md Ali and Miftah Haziq

Mechanical Engineering Department,Universiti Teknologi Brunei, BRUNEI DARUSSALAM.
(E-mail: mohammad.gafur@utb.edu.bn)

ABSTRACT
Biomass solid waste in the form of rice husk particle is pyrolyzed in a fixed bed stainless steel pyrolysis reactor of 50 mm diameter
and 50 cm length. The biomass solid feedstock is prepared prior to pyrolysis. The reactor bed is heated by means of a cylindrical
heater of biomass source. A temperature of 500oC is maintained with an apperent vapor residence time of 3-5 sec. The products
obtained are liquid bio-oil, solid char and gases. The liquid product yield is found to be 30% by weight of solid biomass feedstock
while the solid product yield is found to be 35% by weight of solid biomass feedtock, the rest is gas. The bio-oil is a single-phase
brownish color liquid of acrid smell. The heating value of the oil is determined to be 25 MJ/kg. The density and pH value are found
to be 1.125 kg/m3 and 3.78 respectively.

Keywords: Biomass waste, pyrolysis, bio-oil, heating value.

1. INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE

Energy is indispensable in the modern technological world. The present world is driven by fossil fuel that has been
depleting very fast. The demand is exceeding the supply. The environmental pollution from the combustion of fossil
fuel is a serious concern of the world as well. Now biomass solid wastes are available abundantly in most parts of the
world. Mostly these are either unused or underutilized. The disposal of the large amount of the wastes is also a
problem. From the characterization studies of biomass solid wastes, it is revealed that these wastes have good
characteristics to be used as feedstock for better energy recovery in the form of liquid oil, solid char and gaseous
products. Also, value-added products can be obtained from the liquid oil obtained. The contribution to the world’s
energy supply is estimated to be around 14% [1].
One of the possible ways for this energy and value-added products recovery is to adopt the pyrolysis process for the
conversion of carbonaceous biomass solid wastes into liquid oil, also known as bio-oil. Pyrolysis is one of the most
promising emerging technologies for this purpose and research into its development has been done by several
researchers [1-4]. It is the thermal degradation of the carbonaceous solid wastes into liquid oil at moderate temperature
in the absence or very limited presence of oxygen or air so that combustion or gasification does not take place. The
pyrolysis is meant for liquid product although solid char and gases are produced depending upon the heating rate,
reactor bed temperature and apparent vapor residence time.
It is the objective of this study, to convert the biomass solid waste in the form of rice husks into bio-oil in a fixed bed
pyrolysis system recently designed and fabricated in the Manufacturing Laboratory of the Mechanical Engineering
Programme Area of Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) [5]. The design is inspired from the laboratory scaled fluidized
bed pyrolysis system which was developed by M.R. Islam et. al. [6]. Rice husks was chosen as the feedstock for this
investigation as it is easily obtained from rice plantation in Kg. Wasan, Brunei Darussalam.

2. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD

2.1. Method
In the study, a fixed bed pyrolysis system was designed and fabricated as shown in Figure 1. The pyrolysis reactor
system consists of a fixed bed reactor, a liquid condenser, two liquid collectors and a biomass source heater. The
diameter of the fixed bed reactor is 50 mm and the length is 50 cm. The fixed bed reactor is maintained at a moderate
temperature range of 450oC to 500oC at an apparent vapor residence time ranging from 3 to 5 secs. Nitrogen is used
as the carrier gas throughout the system to make the atmosphere inert inside the reactor. The reactor is heated by
means of a heater of biomass source to attain necessary heating in order to get the temperature in the range of 450oC
to 500oC. A tube and shell type water cooled condenser is designed so that the condensable vapors in the reactor are

International Conference on Applied Physics and Engineering (ICAPE2016)

AIP Conf. Proc. 1875, 020015-1–020015-4; doi: 10.1063/1.4998369
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1555-3/$30.00

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cooled rapidly to be condensed into liquid product. Then two liquid collectors are placed subsequently in order to be
ice-cooled for further condensation of the vapors while the non-condensable gases are flared into atmosphere.

FIGURE 1. Fixed bed pyrolysis system

2.2. Materials
The material selected for the reactor system is stainless steel so that the system can withstand high temperature heating.
Usually the liquid oil is corrosive in nature, thus a stainless steel reactor system is a good choice. The feedstock for
pyrolysis considered in this study is rice husk particles in the size range of millimeters shown in Figure 2. It is collected
from local rice mills at Kg. Wasan in Brunei-Muara district of Brunei Darussalam.

FIGURE 2. Rice husk prepped for drying

Recent studies of the rice production in Brunei Darussalam shows that the annual waste generation is approximately
351.2 tonne of rice husks. Compared to other solid wastes available, shown in Table 1 below, rice husks gives the
highest amount of waste and hence was chosen as the feedstock due to its highest availability.

TABLE 1. Annual biomass waste materials in Brunei

Solid Waste Waste wt. (%) Annual waste (tonne)
Coconut shell 12 11.81
Coconut fiber 32 25.1
Corn fiber 29 128.3
Rice husk 20 351.2
Sawdust 40 65.2

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 2.3. Procedures
Initially the feedstock is air dried followed by oven drying at 105 oC for 6 hours prior to pyrolysis. The biomass in the
heater is fired, air is supplied by means of a blower, thus the feedstock in the reactor is heated and nitrogen gas is
passed through the system. The running time for the pyrolysis experimental run is taken to be 60 min. At the end of
the pyrolysis experimental run, the heating is stopped, the system is then allowed to cool and the components are
dismantled. The liquid products are then collected and weighed. The char is retained in the reactor and weighed. The
amount of gaseous products is determined by difference.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Three types of product are obtained. These are liquid oil, solid char and gases. The liquid product yield is found to be
30% by weight of the total solid rice husk feedstock as shown in Figure 3. Figure 4 shows the solid char and is found
to be 35% and the remaining portion is gas.

FIGURE 3. Bio-oil collected

FIGURE 4. Rice husk solid char

The bio-oil is found to be a single-phase, deep brown colored liquid with an acrid smell. The bio-oil is then
characterized for its properties. The higher heating value is determined using an oxygen bomb calorimeter following
standard test procedures and is determined to be 25 MJ/kg. The density of the bio-oil is found to be 1.125 kg/m3 and
the pH value is found to be 3.78. The product yields are found to be of reasonable proportion. The heating value is
found to be better than that of the biomass rice husk waste feedstock indicating an improvement in the energy content

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of the bio-oil. The density is comparable with other biomass-derived pyrolysis oil [7]. The pH value indicates that the
oil is acidic in nature; and hence, corrosive.

4. CONCLUSION
The rice husk solid waste is successfully pyrolyzed into bio-oil, solid char and gases. The liquid product yield is found
to be 30% by weight of the biomass solid feedstock while the solid char is 35% which are quite satisfactory in terms
of product yield. The heating value and other properties of the oil reveals the fact that the oil has its potential to be
used as a fuel which can be further upgraded. Although the system has been successfully fabricated an tested, it is still
far from ideal. Future work will look into the improvement of the system to further increase its efficiency in producing
the bio-oil.

REFERENCES
1. Y. Shen, K. Yoshikawa (2013). Recent progresses in catalytic tar elimination during biomass gasification or
pyrolysis: a review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 21:371-392.
2. J. T. Oladeji, E. A. Itabiyi, P. O. Okekunle (2015). A comprehensive review of biomass pyrolysis as a process of
renewable energy generation. Journal of Natural Sciences Research, Vol.5, No.5.
3. H. B. Goyal, D. Seal, R. C. Saxena (2008). Bio-fuels from thermochemical conversion of renewable resources: a
review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 12:504-517.
4. S. Yaman (2004). Pyrolysis of biomass to produce fuels and chemical feedstocks. Energy Conversion and
Management, 45:651-671.
5. M. Haziq (2016). Design and Fabrication of a Pyrolysis System for Bio-oil from Biomass Solid Waste. A B.Eng
Project Report, Mech Eng Program Area, Universiti Teknologi Brunei.
6. M. N. Islam (1999). Pyrolysis of Biomass Solid Waste and Its Catalytic Treatment with Techno-Economic
Analysis, A PhD Thesis, Faculty of Mech Eng, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
7. M. R. Islam, M. N. Islam, M. N. Nabi (2004). Design, fabrication and performance study of a biomass solid
waster pyrolysis system for alternative liquid fuel production. Journal of Energy and Environment 3, pp. 103-
117.

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