Flash pyrolysis of Silopi asphaltite in a free-fall reactor under vacuum

Flash pyrolysis experiments on asphaltite samples were performed in a free-fall reactor under vacuum to determine the effects of pyrolysis temperature, feed rate and particle size. Maximum liquid yield of 13 wt.% was obtained in free-fall reactor under vacuum when the pyrolysis temperature was 700 °C, feed rate was 0.4 g min−1 and particle sizes were between 0.075 and 0.250 mm. The liquid products obtained at various pyrolysis conditions were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) and liquid products were classified as following: C5–C10, C11–C15, C16–C20 and C20+. The amount of saturated hydrocarbons decreased while the amount of unsaturated hydrocarbons increased with increase of temperature. While percent of C5–C10 unsaturated hydrocarbons continuously increased with increase of temperature, the percent of C11–C15 unsaturated hydrocarbons increased up to 750 °C and then started to diminish. Functional group analysis of solid residue was carried out using Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR). The proximate analysis of solid residue indicated that percent of fixed carbon and ash increased with temperature.