Feasibility of Laminaria japonica as a feedstock for fast pyrolysis in a bubbling fluidized-bed reactor

•Laminaria japonica is used as a feedstock for fast pyrolysis.•Fast pyrolysis experiments are performed in a bubbling fluidized-bed reactor.•The main components of bio-oil were analyzed by GC/MS after fractionation.•The different properties of bio-oil were originated from the inherent structure.

Laminaria japonica, brown algae, was used as a feedstock for fast pyrolysis in a bubbling fluidized-bed (BFB) reactor by manipulating the pyrolysis temperature, feeding rate, and ratio of the fluidizing velocity to the minimum fluidizing velocity (U/Umf), which exhibited optimum operating conditions of a feeding rate of 600 g/h, a U/Umf of 18.3 and a pyrolysis temperature of 425 °C. The maximum yield of L. japonica-derived bio-oil (approximately 35 wt%) was lower than that of lignocellulose. When fractionated, the L. japonica-derived bio-oil was found to be composed of several major compounds, including cyclic aliphatic compounds, which were very different from aromatic molecules, the major compounds of lignocellulose-derived bio-oil.