Fast pyrolysis of rice husk under different reaction conditions

In this work, rice husk, an agricultural waste in Korea, was pyrolyzed under different reaction conditions (temperature, flow rate, feed rate, and fluidizing medium) in a fluidized bed with the influence of reaction conditions upon characteristics of the bio-oil studied. The optimal pyrolysis temperature for bio-oil production was found to be between 400 and 450 degrees C. Higher flow rates and feeding rates were more effective for its production. The use of the product gas as the fluidizing medium led to the highest bio-oil yield. With the exception of temperature, no single operation variable largely affected the physicochemical properties of the bio-oil. (C) 2010 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.