Production of Bio-oil through Fast Pyrolysis of Baobab Waste Shells

Abstract

The increasing demand for transportation fuel, due to increased urbanization, is now compounded by depleting and unstable crude oil reserves. Furthermore, the volatile market and the negative environmental impact of fossil fuels have driven the usage of biomass as a potential energy source. Of particular interest are biomass waste and baobab shells present an interesting option. The objective of this study is to produce bio oil by a fast pyrolysis process from baobab shells. The effect of reaction temperature, biomass particle size and fluidizing gas flow rate on the liquid product yield are investigated. The maximum liquid yield obtained was 36.6% at 500 OC at a N2 gas flowrate of 11.6 l/min and a particle size of less than 0.5 mm.