Effect of transition metal oxide on microwave co-pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse and Chlorella vulgaris for producing bio-oil

Bio-oil produced by biomass pyrolysis has been widely concerned because of its clean and sustainable advan-tages. In this work, the co-pyrolysis characteristics and product yield of sugarcane bagasse (BA) and Chlorella vulgaris (CV) under different CuO additions were studied using microwave oven. Then the components of bio-oil were identified by GC-MS. The results showed that co-pyrolysis optimized the pyrolysis characteristics and improved the yield and quality of bio-oil. B8C2 (BA/CV=8:2) group was the optimal mixing ratio with the maximum bio-oil yield and best pyrolysis characteristics. CuO promoted the bio-oil production of B8C2, and 50% CuO improved the pyrolysis characteristics most effectively. Besides, the co-pyrolysis of BA and CV played an obvious denitrification effect, promoted the formation of long-chain fatty acids, N-heterocycles, phenols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and increased the higher heating value (HHV) of bio-oil. CuO increased the contents of phenol and furans, and decreased acid value and sulfur content of bio-oil, thus making it more accessible for processing and utilisation at a later stage.

Automated summary

This study investigated the co-pyrolysis characteristics and product yield of sugarcane bagasse (BA) and Chlorella vulgaris (CV) under different CuO additions using a microwave oven. The results showed that co-pyrolysis optimized the pyrolysis characteristics and improved the yield and quality of bio-oil. The B8C2 (BA/CV=8:2) group was found to be the optimal mixing ratio with the maximum bio-oil yield and best pyrolysis characteristics. CuO addition promoted the bio-oil production of B8C2, with 50% CuO having the most effective improvement on pyrolysis characteristics.