Characterization of bio-oil and bio-char obtained from sweet sorghum bagasse fast pyrolysis with fractional condensers

Fast pyrolysis serves as an alternative and eco-friendly method to dispose of biomass waste and to get bio-oil, bio-char and syngas simultaneously. In this study, sweet sorghum bagasse was pyrolyzed in a fluidized bed reactor with biomass throughput of 1-5 kg/h using fractional condensers and an electrostatic precipitator. GC-MS analysis showed an annulation feature of bio-oil compositions and the fractional condensers proved to be an effective way to separate water and chemical compounds from bio-oil. Surface morphology of bio-char was conducted using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive Xray analysis (EDS). Bio-char is carbon rich with high K content and vesicular structure. Additionally, proximate, ultimate, elemental and the FTIR analysis were carried out on sweet sorghum bagasse and its products to investigate the chemical changes after the fast pyrolysis process. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.