The production and evaluation of bio-oils from the pyrolysis of sunflower-oil cake

Abstract

Sunflower (Helianthus annus L.)-oil cake pyrolysis experiments were achieved 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 48.69 wt% was obtained in nitrogen atmosphere with nitrogen flow rate of 100 cm(3) min(-1) and at a pyrolysis temperature of 550 degreesC with a heating rate of 5 degreesC s(-1). Chromatographic and spectroscopic studies on the pyrolytic oil showed that the oil obtained from sunflower-oil cake can be used as a renewable fuel and chemical feedstocks