Niger Seed Thermal Pyrolysis: Characterization of Aqueous Phase Pyrolytic Liquid and Char

Abstract

Thermal pyrolysis of Niger seed was performed in a stainless steel semi-batch reactor at a heating rate of 25 °C min^-1 in between the temperature range of 500-600 °C. The effect of temperature on the yield of pyrolysis products was studied. The optimum temperature to produce maximum yield of pyrolytic liquid was found to be 550 °C. The pyrolytic liquid was separated into two phases such as oil and aqueous phase. The top phase was oil and consists of water insoluble chemicals, whereas; the bottom phase was a mixture of water and water soluble chemicals. The GC-MS analysis confirmed that the bottom phase contains various long chain alkane, alkene, esters and phenolic compounds. The surface area of pyrolytic char was about 4.015 m2 gm^-1 and having a lower heating value of about 14.69 MJ kg^-1.

Keywords: Oilseed, Thermal pyrolysis, Characterization, Aqueous phase