Chemical composition of bio-oils produced by fast pyrolysis of two energy biomass

In this study, bio-oils from fast pyrolysis of West African cordia (Cm) and Africana birch (Al) sawdust were analyzed using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyzer. The chemical composition of bio-oil was analyzed for quality, stability or suitability for downstream upgrading. Proximate and elemental analyses were carried out using isoconversional methods and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) technique, respectively. Results of the study show that volatile matter, fixed carbon, ash content and moisture content of Cm and Al are 80.03, 10.25, 1.70% and 8.02%, and 75.83, 10.28, 3.81% and 10.08%, respectively. The results of the elemental analysis show that the contents of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur for Cm and Al are 24.76, 3.00, 0.70, 70.57 and 0.97%, and 29.20, 0.44, 0.88, 68.15 and 1.33%, respectively. The higher heating value (HHV) of the bio-oil, bio-char and pyro-gas obtained from the biomass samples ranged from 64.35 to 66.65 MJ/kg, 18.95 to 22.25 MJ/kg and 20.45 to 23.65 MJ/kg, respectively. Results of analytical Py-GC/MS showed that the proportion of phenolic compounds identified is more than 50%, with trans-2-octadecadecen-1-ol, cis-10-pentadecen-1-ol, 9-octadecenal, methyl-1-cyclohexenyl ketone showing dominance. This study established that pyro-fuel not only can be used as fuel but can also be purified and serve as raw materials for chemical and processing industries.