Biogasoline production by zeolite-A catalyzed co-pyrolysis of torrefied cassava root and palm oil

Abstract

In this study, cassava root was subjected to torrefaction pretreatment prior to catalytic pyrolysis, with the main objective to investigate the effect of torrefaction time on chemical composition of bio crude oil (BCO) distillate resulted. For this purpose, the root was torrefied at 200°C for 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes. The torrefied samples were then mixed with palm oil and then pyrolyzed at 450 °C in the presence of zeolite-A, prepared from rice husk silica (RHS) and food grade aluminum foil, as catalyst. A sample without torrefaction was pyrolyzed in a similar condition for comparison. The bio-crude oil (BCO) obtained was distilled at 150 °C, and the chemical composition of the distillate was determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. The components of the distillates produced from torrefied samples are composed of mainly C6-C13 hydrocarbons, which are considered as biogasoline, while that produced from the sample without torrefaction was found to contain ketone in addition to hydrocarbon. The experimental results also demonstrate that the chemical compositions of the BCO distillates produced from the samples torrefied at 30, 60, and 90 minutes are not significantly different, but significantly different composition was observed for the sample torrefied at 120 °C.