Pyrolysis of Microalgae Chlorella sp. using Activated Carbon as Catalyst for Biofuel Production

Microalgae, as a potential raw material for biofuel, has several advantages compared to other biomass. One effective way to convert microalgae into biofuel is by thermal cracking or pyrolysis, and using a catalyst or not. So far, studies on the use of microalgae, that are converted into biofuels, is still use highly concentrated catalysts in packed bed reactors, which is not economical. Therefore, the aim of this study is to convert Chlorella sp. into biofuels with conventional pyrolysis without and using an activated carbon catalyst using packed bed reactor with bubble column. The reaction temperature is 400–600 °C, pyrolysis time is 1–4 hours, and the active carbon catalyst concentration is 0–2%. The 200 grams of Chlorella sp. and the catalyst was mixed in a fixed bed reactor under vacuum (−3 mm H20) condition. Next, we set the reaction temperature. When the temperature was reached, the pyrolysis was begun. After certain time was reached, the pyrolysis produced a liquid oil product. Oil products are measured for density and viscosity. The results showed that the conventional pyrolysis succeeded in converting microalgae Chlorella sp. into liquid biofuels. The highest yield of total liquid oil is obtained 50.2 % (heavy fraction yield, 43.75% and light fraction yield, 6.44%) at the highest conditions which was obtained with 1% activated carbon at a temperature and pyrolysis time of 3 hours. Physical properties of liquid biofuel are density of 0.88 kg/m3 and viscosity of 5.79 cSt. This physical properties are within the range of the national biodiesel standard SNI 7182-2012. The packed bed reactor completed with bubble column is the best choice for converting biofuel from microalgae, because it gives different fractions, so that it is easier to process further to the commercial biofuel stage. Copyright © 2021 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Waste Tire Pyrolysis Product: An Alternative to Petrochemical Feedstock

Aim: The amount of waste tire generated constantly in the modern society is on a rapid increase due to the world’s urbanization, industrialization and population increase. This research was conducted to recover useful products from waste tyre and harness the possibility of using these products as a petrochemical feedstock alternative. Study Design: Conventional pyrolysis was used to produce bio char, bio-oil and bio-gas Place and Duration of Study: The research was carried out in the department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering Nnamdi Azikiwe University between January 2020 and march 2020 Methodology: Waste tyre was pyrolyzed using a conventional pyrolysis over three different temperature 400,550 and 750oC. The yield of the oil and char was determined by weight measurement, while that of gas was determined by mass balancing. The oil produced was characterized using GC/MS (gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) Results: The percentage yield of char, oil and gas at 400oC, 550oC and 750oC respectively are 62, 24, 14; 48, 36.2, 15.8 and 42, 40, 18. The statistical analysis of yield gave a p-value of 0.785211 this showed that there is no significant change across the three samples statistically. The GC/MS analyses of the oil showed that the oil contains more than 35 compounds of which 6 accounted for more than 50% of the oil, these six include d-limonene with 12.83%, 1-2- benzene dicarboxylic acid with 10.48%, benzene, 1-ethyl-3methyl with 8.89%, benzene 1-methyl-3-(1-methylethyl) with 8.6%, benzene 1-ethenyl-4-methyl with 6.13% and hexadecenoic acid at 5.27%,while another six accounted for less than 5% of the oil, they includes (1-methylenebut-2-enyl)benzene with 0.89%, 1-methylbut-1,3-dienyl)benzene with 0.71%, naphthalene-2,7-dimethyl with 0.71%, quinoline with 0.96%, Spiro[4,5]dec-7-ene,1,8-dimethyl-4-(1-methylethenyl) with 0.74%, phenol 4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl). Conclusion: The composition of tire derived oil are very important petrochemicals derivatives which can be separated or can be used as feedstocks for petrochemical industries.

[Zn(Salen)] metal complex-derived ZnO-implanted Carbon Slabs as Anode Material for Lithium-ion and Sodium-ion Batteries

Zinc oxide-implanted carbon slabs (ZnO@CS) were prepared by conventional pyrolysis of [Zn(salen)] complex. The formed ZnO@CS was characterized in detail through material characterizations, which confirmed the formation of ZnO nanoparticle...

METHYLENE BLUE REMOVAL USING COCONUT SHELL BIOCHAR SYNTHESIZED THROUGH MICROWAVE-ASSISTED PYROLYSIS

Indonesia is the world’s second largest producer of coconut. This at the same time resulted in huge generation of coconut shell waste that need to be properly managed to prevent environmental contamination such as water, air and soil pollution. Current techniques of physical and thermal processing are time and energy consuming. This study reports on the conversion of coconut shell biomass into biochar using microwave-assisted pyrolysis (MAP). The MAP processes were carried out at different microwave power (550-650W) and residence time (15-25 minutes). Two of the highest biochar yields were obtained at 550W with the residence times of 15 minutes (91.31 wt%, termed as S1) and 20 minutes (83.88 wt%, termed as S2), respectively. Both values were higher than biochar yield obtained using conventional pyrolysis process i.e. 30.10 wt%. Both S1 and S2 showed considerable capacity to remove 0.6875 mg.g-1 and 0.5165 mg.g-1 methylene blue which had the initial concentration of 25 mg.L-1. The adsorption efficiencies of S1 and S2 biochars were 55.00% and 41.32%, respectively. Results obtained from the FTIR, FESEM and BET analysis also supported the methylene blue removal properties of both S1 and S2, respectively. As a conclusion, coconut shell showed potential as a useful raw material to produce biochar that can be used for methylene blue removal from solution. Nevertheless, more investigation need to be carried out prior to commercialization venture of the coconut-shell based biochar.

NH3-Plasma pre-treated carbon supported active iron–nitrogen catalyst for oxygen reduction in acid and alkaline electrolytes

A new strategy in the synthesis of M–N–C type catalysts was introduced through the combination of plasma pre-treatment followed by conventional pyrolysis, which demonstrated higher ORR activity and stability than pristine M–N–C catalysts.