Pyrolysis of water hyacinth in a fixed bed reactor: Parametric effects on product distribution, characterization and syngas evolutionary behavior

In this investigation, the effect of operating parameters on product distribution for the conversion of water hyacinth into most valuable product bio oil as well as char and gases are investigated. To observe the parametric effect on product distribution, the temperature was varied 300-600 °C, heating rate 10-50 °C/min, particle size of the feed <0.5-2.5 mm and carrier gas nitrogen flow rate 0-12 lpm. The highest bio-oil yield of 44.9 wt% was obtained at 350 °C, 30 °C/min, particle feed size less than 0.5 mm and 6 lpm. The results show that the product yield is strongly influenced by the temperature variation whereas weakly affected by the heating rate. The biomass and the products were characterized by ultimate, proximate, DTG, FTIR, 1H NMR, and GC-MS. Syngas evolution increase with the increase of temperature except CO2. The quality of bio-oil is perspective as a source of value-added chemicals and char is a promising source for the production of carbonaceous materials as well as solid fuel.