Fast pyrolysis of sunflower-pressed bagasse: Effects of sweeping gas flow rate

Abstract

Sunflower (Helianthus annus L.)-pressed bagasse pyrolysis experiments were performed in a fixed-bed tubular reactor. The effects of nitrogen flow rate and final pyrolysis temperature on the pyrolysis product yields and chemical compositions have been investigated. The maximum bio-oil yield of 52.85 wt% was obtained in a nitrogen atmosphere and a nitrogen flow rate of 50 cm(3) min(-1) and at a pyrolysis temperature of 550degrees C and heating rate of 5degrees C s(-1). The chemical characterization has shown that the oil obtained from sunflower-pressed bagasse may be potentially valuable as fuel and chemical feedstocks.