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Pyrolysis-Based Synthesis and Characterization of Bio-Oil From Brassica Carinata Oilseed Meals and Its Application to Produce Bio-Jet Fuel

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Abstract

Bio-oils produced through thermochemical conversion processes such as pyrolysis from streamside products obtained from a bio-jet fuel production facility may be used as promising low-carbon alternative feedstocks in the aviation industry. The present investigation applied slow pyrolysis that was conducted at different temperatures to produce bio-oils from hexane-defatted Brassica carinata oilseed meals. The pyrolysis experiments proved that the highest temperature (550℃) produced the maximum bio-oil yield (55.01%), while the lowest temperature (350℃) produced the maximum bio-char (34.93%) and gas (45.84%) yields. An in-depth characterization was performed on the bio-oils to investigate whether they may be employed as alternative feedstocks for bio-jet fuel production. As a result, properties were studied using physicochemical characterization, ultimate analysis, atomic ratios analysis, heating value analysis, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry analysis, gas chromatograph-mass spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The characterization results of the bio-oils revealed that they had moisture (35.38 − 48.64%), pH (8.50), kinematic viscosity (14.10 − 16.05 cSt), ash content (0.17 − 0.208%), carbon (55.4 − 62.3%), hydrogen (9.02 − 9.29%), nitrogen (6.08 − 6.20%), sulfur (0.61 − 0.69%), oxygen (21.47 − 28.56%), and higher heating value (26.98 − 30.45 MJ/kg). Furthermore, it was found that the major classes of compounds identified include saturated hydrocarbons (13.56 − 14.52%), saturated fatty acids (2.33 − 3.67%), monounsaturated hydrocarbons (30.28 − 34.62%), monounsaturated fatty acids (6.54 − 11.23%), polyunsaturated fatty acids (1.41 − 2.82%), and Others (such as nitrogenated compounds) (38.44 − 39.62%). In conclusion, because of their remarkable excellent characteristics, and because they can be catalytically upgraded into advanced fuels by catalytic hydrotreatment methods (like hydrodeoxygenation and hydrodenitrogenation), and hydrocracking reactions, the oils can be used as promising alternative feedstocks for the aviation industry.

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Data Availability

Data and materials are made available upon request to the corresponding author.

Abbreviations

AJF:

Alternative Jet Fuel

AOAC :

Association of Official Analytical Chemists

ASTM:

American Society for Testing Materials

ATR:

Attenuated Total Reflectance

BP:

The British Petroleum Company P.L.C.

B. carinata :

Brassica carinata

BCM:

Brassica carinata Meal

ca.:

Abbreviation of Circa (= about)

CHNSO:

Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulfur and Oxygen

cSt:

Centistokes

DBFZ:

Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum (German Biomass Research Center)

DIN :

Deutsches Institut fur Normung (German Institute for Standardisation)

DTG:

Differential Thermogravimetric Analysis

DTGS:

Deuterated Triglycine Sulfate

EN :

Europaische Norm (European Standard)

GC-TCD:

Gas chromatography Thermo-Conductivity Detector

HDO:

Hydrodeoxygenation

HDN:

Hydrodenitrogenation

HDM:

Hydrodemetallization

HDS:

Hydrodesulfurization

HHV:

Higher Heating Value

HTL:

Hydrothermal Liquefaction

HEFA:

Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids

ICP-OES :

Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy

ID:

Internal Diameter

ISO:

International Standardization Organization

Mtoe :

Million Tonnes of Oil Equivalent

sp.:

Species

TCR:

Thermo-Catalytic Reforming

TGA:

Thermogravimetric Analysis

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Acknowledgements

For their assistance with the laboratory work analysis, Mr. Zinnabu Tassew Redda would like to express his highest appreciation to all Faculty I colleagues (HTW Berlin), Prof. Monika Buchholz (BHT Berlin), and Dr. Özge Mutlu (DBFZ, Leipzig).

Funding

The author, Zinnabu Tassew Redda, would like to express his sincere gratitude for the technical assistance provided by Faculty 1, University of Applied Sciences (HTW) Berlin, Germany; as well as the technical and financial support offered by the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa University with a grant number of Ph.D. RG-GSR/1466/10.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Applied Sciences (HTW) Berlin, Wilhelminenhofstraße 75A, 12459, Berlin, Germany

    Zinnabu Tassew Redda, Asnakech Laß-Seyoum, Mirko Barz & Christine Tanja Dey

  2. School of Chemical and Bio Engineering, Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa University (AAU), King George VI St, P.O. Box 385, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Zinnabu Tassew Redda & Abubeker Yimam

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering, Adama Science and Technology University, 1888, Adama, Ethiopia

    Desta Getachew Gizaw

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  1. Zinnabu Tassew Redda
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Statement of Novelty

The first novelty component of the study begins with the availability of access to the sustainable and alternative feedstocks (Brassica carinata meals) which can be produced as streamside products from a bio-jet fuel facility. The application of a non-catalytic slow pyrolysis approach on the meals enabled the production of quite high bio-oil yield with unique characterization qualities such as low viscosity, greater calorific values, slightly lower oxygen concentration, absence of metal, sulfur, and phosphorus impurities, and presence of erucic acid. Saturated hydrocarbons (13.56–14.52%), saturated fatty acids (2.33–3.67%), monounsaturated hydrocarbons (30.28–34.62%), monounsaturated fatty acids (6.54–11.23%), polyunsaturated fatty acids (1.41–2.82%), and Others (including nitrogen containing compounds) (38.44–39.62%) are the various classes of compounds synthesized through the pyrolysis method. Since they are primarily composed of straight-chain middle distillate hydrocarbons and fatty acids while still having nitrogenated components, the oils extracted from the non-food hexane-defatted meals can be considered potential alternative feedstocks for the production of advanced fuels like bio-jet fuels. Making low-carbon fuel resources available, could play a part in contributing to the aviation sector's decarbonization agenda.

Highlights

• Brassica carinata meals are a significant source of potential feedstocks for the production of bio-oils via slow pyrolysis (550℃, 10℃/min, and 5 min holding time), yielding a bio-oil yield of more than 55 wt.%.

• The synthesized bio-oils showed enhanced properties such as greater calorific values, slightly lower oxygen levels, the absence of metal, sulfur, and phosphorus impurities, and the presence of erucic acid.

• Nitrogen containing compounds (C8–C11), straight-chain middle distillate compounds (C14–C21), and long-chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids (C16–C19, and C23) are among the most significant pyrolysis products.

• The bio-oils with such unique characteristics are very appropriate alternative feedstocks for the production of bio-jet fuels using one of the oil-to-jet (OTJ) upgrading techniques especially the HEFA path way.

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Redda, Z.T., Laß-Seyoum, A., Yimam, A. et al. Pyrolysis-Based Synthesis and Characterization of Bio-Oil From Brassica Carinata Oilseed Meals and Its Application to Produce Bio-Jet Fuel. Bioenerg. Res. 17, 1328–1343 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-023-10703-6

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