Pyrolysis of Mahua seed (Madhuca indica) - Production of biofuel and its characterization

The thermal pyrolysis of Mahua seed (Madhuca indica) has been carried out in the present study to verify its potentiality for biofuel production. Pyrolysis was conducted in a semi-batch reactor at various temperatures from 450 to 600 °C under 30 mL/min nitrogen flow rate and at 20 °C/min constant heating rate. At an optimum temperature of 525 °C, the maximum bio-oil yield of 49% was obtained along with 18% of bio-char. Both the products were further physically and chemically characterized, and their results demonstrated their efficiency and potentiality as beneficial energy resources. The chemical characterizations through FTIR, 1H NMR, and GC-MS showed that the bio-oil consisted of significant number of aliphatic compounds than aromatics. The obtained calorific value of bio-oil was found to be 39.02 MJ/kg which is closer to the calorific values of the conventional petroleum fuels. Moreover, the morphological characteristics of bio-char was carried out using SEM and BET analysis which revealed their macroporous surface with a low surface area of 13.2 m2/g. Bio-char had calorific value of 26.053 MJ/kg which is more than that of fossil fuel coal. Such favorable outcomes endorse the Mahua seed biofuel as a promising candidate to be used as hydrocarbon fuel and chemical feed stock.