Experimental investigations on the effect of pyrolytic bio-oil during the liquefaction of Karanja press seed cake

In this study, experimental investigations on the liquefaction of Karanja Press Seed Cake (PSC) were carried out in the presence of Pyrolytic Bio-oil (PBO) produced from the slow pyrolysis of the same feedstock. The effects of PBO amount and temperature were studied with an aim to achieve the highest conversion in liquefaction experiments. Also, comparison has been established between the use of PBO and conventional solvent and acid catalyst such as phenol and sulphuric acid, respectively for achieving the highest liquefaction conversion. A detailed chemical analysis and a comparison of PBO and liquefied product (bio-crude) have been carried out using FT-IR, and GC-MS techniques. The results showed that the Karanja PSC could be directly liquefied in the presence of PBO at moderate reaction conditions. A maximum liquefaction conversion of 99% was obtained at a reaction temperature of 240 °C, a residence time of 160 min and a Karanja PSC to PBO ratio of 1:6. In contrast, ~ 94% conversion was obtained for the same residence time but at significantly lower temperature of 160 °C when phenol and sulphuric acid were used in the ratio of Karanja PSC, phenol and H2SO4 as 1:2:0.6. It was observed that aromatic structure with less oxygen was evident in bio-crude compared to PBO.