Microalgae as a renewable fuel source: Fast pyrolysis of Scenedesmus sp.

Herein we report the fast pyrolysis of dried, ground Scenedesmus sp. at two different reactor scales. Pyrolysis was performed at 480 °C and 1 bar in both an isothermal spouted bed reactor and a dynamic pyrolysis-GC/MS unit, each with 2 s vapor residence times. Bio-oil products were characterized on the basis of GC-MS, simulated distillation GC, elemental analysis, calorific content and total acid number. The ratio of crude oil: char obtained from the spouted bed reactor was 3.76 by weight, the average calorific content of the oil being 18.4 MJ/kg. The average total acid number (68 mg KOH/g) was lower than typical bio-oil produced via wood pyrolysis. Simulated distillation results indicated that a significant proportion of the oil corresponded to the boiling range typical for heavy gas oil (343 °C-524 °C). Elemental analysis showed the oil contained an average of 27.6 wt.% oxygen and 8.6 wt.% nitrogen, the relatively high nitrogen content being a consequence of the high protein content of the algae. According to GC-MS data, the oil consisted of various hydrocarbons as well as oxygenated and nitrogenous species, including indoles, fatty acids and amides. Pyrolysis-GC-MS was also performed on Scenedesmus sp. in order to provide insights into the nature of the primary pyrolysis products.