Co-pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse and scrap tire in fixed-bed reactor

Abstract

The study investigated usability potential of scrap tire and sugarcane bagasse as co-pyrolysis feedstock with a focus on liquid yield. Two raw materials were fed to fixed-bed reactor in various mixing ratios. The experiments were carried out at 500 °C with heating rate of 20 °C/min and Nitrogen flow rate of 50mL/min was used as carrier gas. Sugarcane bagasse/scrap tire 1:3 produced highest liquid yield which was 49.7 wt.% against 42.1 wt.% of pure sugarcane bagasse. Oil from sugarcane bagasse, scrap tire and their blend 1:3 was then characterized for physical and chemical properties using different chromatographic and spectroscopic analytical techniques. Significant synergistic effects were indicated by the quality and quantity of the co-pyrolysis liquid yield. The optimum feedstock mix produced oil with calorific value of 41 MJ/Kg with significantly lesser viscosity as compared to pure sugarcane bagasse pyrolysis oil. Co-pyrolysis oil showed high potential to be used as feedstock for fuel production after required processing.