Pyrolysis Process of Organic Waste into Bio-Oil as an Alternative Fuel

Abstract

One of the abundant potential energy sources in Indonesia is organic waste in the form of biomass waste, which amounts to 60% of the total waste in Indonesia. Organic waste from various parts of plants can be converted into fuel in the form of bio-oil through a fast pyrolysis process. The effectiveness of this process really depends on the temperature in the reactor and the type of material being processed. Therefore, the aim of this research is to study the effect of process temperature and type of raw material on yield and the quality of the bio-oil produced. The raw materials used are sawdust, rice husks, or mango plant leaves, which have been cut into pieces to a maximum size of 3 cm. Then the raw material is put into the pyrolysis reactor and heated to a temperature to be varied, namely 200°C, 300°C, 400°C, 500°C, and 600°C. This heating produce vapour, which is then condensed into liquid bio-oil, and be purified until it is equivalent to fuel oil, as well as non-condensable gas, which can also be used as an alternative fuel. The results of raw material analysis show that sawdust has lower water and ash content as well as a greater calorific value compared to rice husks and mango leaves. Meanwhile, the experiments show that in the pyrolysis process, the higher of  the temperature have increased the yield of bio-oil produced, up to a temperature of  500°C, where the yield have  decreased at even higher temperatures. The highest yield was achieved in the pyrolysis of sawdust at a temperature of 500°C, namely 30%. Meanwhile, for the heating value, the higher of the temperature have increased the heating value of the bio-oil. The highest heating value was obtained in sawdust pyrolysis at a temperature of 500°C, namely 1,35 joules per gram.