Pyrolysis of corn stalk biomass briquettes in a scaled-up microwave technology

•First time microwave (MW) pyrolysis of biomass briquette was carried out.•Biomass loading was scaled up to kilograms.•HHV of biochar and bio-oil was 32 MJ/kg and 2.5 MJ/kg, respectively.•Pyrolysis product yield dependent on the process parameters, MW power and loading.•Reactor design can be further improved to increase the bio-oil quality.

Pyrolysis of corn stalk biomass briquettes was carried out in a developed microwave (MW) reactor supplied with 2.45 GHz frequency using 3 kW power generator. MW power and biomass loading were the key parameters investigated in this study. Highest bio-oil, biochar, and gas yield of 19.6%, 41.1%, and 54.0% was achieved at different process condition. In terms of quality, biochar exhibited good heating value (32 MJ/kg) than bio-oil (2.47 MJ/kg). Bio-oil was also characterised chemically using FTIR and GC-MS method. This work may open new dimension towards development of large-scale MW pyrolysis technology.

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