DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A FIXED BED PYROLYSIS SYSTEM
DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A FIXED BED PYROLYSIS SYSTEM
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2018-02
Authors
OGUNKANMI, Joel Olaposi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
A fixed bed pyrolysis system has been designed and constructed for obtaining liquid fuel
from palm kernel shell. The major components of the system are: fixed bed reactor and
condensate unit. The palm kernel shell in particle form was pyrolized in an externally
heated 90mm diameter and 360mm high fixed bed reactor. The reactor is heated by means
of a rectangular shape manual forge blower with charcoal as the energy source. The
products are char, oil and gas. The parameters varied are feed particle size, reactor bed
temperature and running time. The reactor bed temperature was found to influence the
product yields. The maximum liquid yield was 38.67wt % at 4500C for a feed particle size
of 1.18mm with a running time of 95minutes. The maximum char yield was 70.67wt% at
5500C for a feed particle size of 5mm with a running time of 120minutes. The calorific
value of the palm kernel shells (22.81 MJkg-1) and bio-oil (43.19MJkg-1) were determined.
The reactor efficiency was evaluated at various temperatures. Maximum efficiency of
73.21% indicated that the reactor is efficient enough to produce bio-oil. The bio-oil
products were analysed by Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Gas
Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS). The FTIR analysis showed that the bio-oil
was dominated by phenol and its derivatives. The phenol, 2-methoxy-phenol and 2, 6-
dimethoxyl phenol that were identified by GCMS analysis are highly suitable for
extraction from bio-oil as value-added chemicals. The highly oxygenated oils need to be
upgraded in order to be used in other applications such as transportation fuels
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF
POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY,
ZARIA
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE AWARD OF A
MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
NIGERIA
Keywords
DESIGN,, CONSTRUCTION,, PERFORMANCE EVALUATION,, FIXED BED PYROLYSIS SYSTEM