Bio-oil Production by Co-pyrolysis of Corn Cobs (CC) & Waste Tire (WT) in a Fixed Bed Reactor over Microwave Assisted Formic Acid Pretreatment

Project Title

Bio-oil Production by Co-pyrolysis of Corn Cobs (CC) & Waste Tire (WT) in a Fixed Bed Reactor over Microwave Assisted Formic Acid Pretreatment

Project Area of Specialization Mechanical EngineeringProject Summary

Corn cob and waste tire contributes a lot in the overall waste and their safe disposal is one of the today’s major concern. Pyrolysis gives a perfect opportunity not only to reduce the waste disposal problem but also produce valued products. This study will investigate the utilization possibility of waste tire and corn cob as co-pyrolysis feedstock with a focus on liquid yield i.e., bio-oil. This study also includes microwave assisted formic acid pretreatment (MFA) of feedstock in order to increase bio-oil yield. Two raw materials Corn cob (CC) and waste tire (WT) after pretreatment with formic acid, will fed to fixed-bed reactor in various mixing ratios. The experiments will be carried out at 500 °C with heating rate of 20 °C/min and Nitrogen flow rate of 50mL/min as carrier gas. The physical and chemical properties of produced oil produced from Corn cob, waste tire and their blend ratios will then be characterized using different chromatographic and spectroscopic analytical techniques. Significant synergistic effects will indicate the quality and quantity of the co-pyrolysis liquid yield. The optimum feedstock mix will produce oil with higher calorific value and significantly lesser viscosity as compared to pure pyrolysis oil.                                                                                                                                                                                   

Project Objectives

• To design a fixed bed reactor for efficient co-pyrolysis process of CC and WT.
• To use the best combination of feedstock in order to achieve maximum bio-oil yield.
• To use Formic acid for the pre-treatment of biomass in order to improve the quality of bio-oil.
• To find best calorific value of bio-oil through the combination of different ratios:

Corn Cob (CC)/Waste Tire (WT) = 1:0, 1:0.5, 1:1, 0.5:1, 0:1

Project Implementation Method

Methodology:

Formic acid will be required for pretreatment of feedstock Co-pyrolysis of Corn cob (CC) and Waste tire (WT) will be carried out in fixed-bed reactor.

Reactor will include following parts:

• A fixed bed reactor chamber
• Condenser
• A N2 gas cylinder with a pressure regulator and gas flow meter
• Electric heater.
• K-type thermocouples with a temperature controller
• Water tank
• Liquid collector
• Oil reservoir
• Water circulating pump
• Oil pump

Pretreatment Process

Microwave Assisted Formic acid (MFA) pretreatment experiments will be conducted with a microwave digestion device. In a typical experiment, 5 g of dried corn cob (CC) samples and 50 mL of formic acid solution (16 wt%) will be introduced into 100 mL reaction vessel, which will be heated under microwave irradiation (microwave power: 800 W). After MFA pretreatment, the reactor will be cooled down at room temperature. In the next step, formic acid solution will be removed, and CC will be separated through filtration under vacuum. The CC powder will be washed thrice in the distilled water and the obtained residue will be dried at 105 °C to constant weight.

Pyrolysis Process

For each run of the experiment, 200g of sample will be fed into the fixed-bed reactor which will then sealed and heated from ambient temperature at a constant rate of 20°C/min, up to 500°C. The temperature will be maintained at 500°C for 30 minutes. Before starting to heat up the sample, air in the reactor will be  purged with nitrogen gas flowing at the rate of 50 mL/min, Nitrogen flow will continue throughout the experiment to carry the gaseous pyrolysis products.

Benefits of the Project

• Co-pyrolysis is a simple, inexpensive technology for processing a wide variety of feedstocks.
• It reduces waste going to landfill and greenhouse gas emissions.
• It has the potential to reduce the country’s dependence on imported energy resources by generating energy from domestic resources.
• Waste management with the help of modern pyrolysis technology is inexpensive than disposal to landfills.
• Pyrolysis has attracted more interest in producing liquid fuel product because of its advantages in storage, transport and versatility in application such as combustion engines, boilers, turbines, etc

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

Sr. No.	Parameters	Values
1	Reactor type	Fixed bed
2	Feedstock used	Waste tire (WT) + Corn cob (CC)
3	Material used	Mild steel / Stainless steel
4	Maximum temperature	500 oC
5	Reactor volume	0.2 ft3
6	Reactor dimensions	Length = 50.8cm, Internal diameter = 10.8cm, External diameter = 11.4cm, Thickness = 0.3cm
7	Pressure	5-7 bar
8	Sweeping gas	N2 gas for purging
9	N2 flow rate	Initial flow = 500mL/min , During Experiment = 50 mL/min
10	Heating rate	20 °C/min
11	Temperature monitoring	Through Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller K-type thermocouple
12	Condenser	First condenser = tap water at 20 - 25 oC on cooling side and Second condenser = iced water mixed with NaCl , at -2 to -5°C
13	Condenser Dimensions (Heating Side and Cooling Side)	Cooling side of condenser will be cylindrical glass shell with 15 cm height and 8 cm radius with a 160 cm long stainless-steel coil having 0.6 cm diameter as its heating side.
14	Insulation	The reactor will be wrapped in two layered insulation: first, a mica sheet and then glass wool supported by thermal cloth.
15	Feed Inserted	200 g
16	Separation of Organic Phase (OP) and Aqueous Phase (AP)	Pyrolysis oil of WT and co-pyrolysis oils will be separated by separating funnel as after 4-h retention
17	Raw Material and Product Characterization	ASTM D3172-07 for proximate analysis ASTM D7291-96 (LECO CHNS-932) for elemental analysis
18	Liquid product analysis	ASTM D5373 (Thermo Scientific FLASH 2000) for elemental characterization of products. ASTM D4052-96 for density and specific gravity. ASTM D445 for kinematic viscosities.
19	Calorific Value	LECO AC-500 Isoperibol Calorimeter (ASTM D240) determines calorific value. Flash point by Setaflash series 3

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Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemCore Industry PetroleumOther IndustriesCore Technology OthersOther TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Affordable and Clean EnergyRequired Resources

Elapsed time in (days or weeks or month or quarter) since start of the project	Milestone	Deliverable
Month 1	Purchasing of parts of reactor.	Reactor chamber, condenser, electric heater, K-type thermocouples, liquid collector
Month 2	Purchasing of remaining parts of reactor.	water tank, oil reservoir, water circulating pump, oil pump.
Month 3	Reactor designing and modifications.	Replacement of equipment
Month 4	Pretreatment of feedstock used.	Formic acid, feedstock
Month 5	Experimentation by using feedstock.	Pretreated feedstock
Month 6	Final experimentation to attain maximum yield of products.	Bio oil