Effect of process parameters on supercritical liquefaction of Xanthium strumarium for bio-oil production

•Xanthium strumarium was converted to liquid and gas products.•Acetone as solvent and zinc oxide as catalyst has produced the highest liquid yield.•Acetone bio-oils were enriched in aromatics while oxygenated compounds were favoured by methanol and ethanol.•The highest HHV value was calculated as 32.16 MJ/kg with Ca(OH)2 catalyst in acetone.

Supercritical liquefaction process is used for producing energy from biomass. The common reaction conditions for supercritical liquefaction process are the 240–380 °C temperature range and 5–20 MPa pressure values range. Xanthium strumarium liquefaction experiments were performed in a cylindrical reactor (75 mL) in organic solvents (acetone, ethanol, methanol) under supercritical conditions with (zinc oxide, calcium hydroxide) and without catalyst at the temperatures of 250, 275 and 300 °C. The produced liquids at 300 °C in liquefaction were analyzed and characterized by Elemental, GC–MS and FT-IR. 36, 37 and 50 different types of compounds were identified by GC–MS obtained in acetone, ethanol and methanol respectively. The liquid product efficiency has been obtained at 300 °C in acetone with zinc oxide catalyst (74.80%). The highest HHV value has been calculated as 32.16 MJ/kg with calcium hydroxide catalyst in acetone.

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