Chemicals component yield prediction and kinetic parameters determination of oil palm shell pyrolysis through volatile state approach and experimental study

The green products from biomass pyrolysis open the way for the development and application of alternative fuels and chemicals. Until now, the pyrolysis kinetic studies are derived from solid-state approach (based on biomass as a reactant) which still faced drawbacks. A new approach, namely volatile state approach, is then developed with the volatile products as the main basis or reference to predict the mass fraction and yield as well as to determine the kinetic parameters from oil palm shell pyrolysis. The predicted results were then validated with the semi-batch pyrolysis experimental study. The oil palm shell has a biomass type number (NCT) of 9.57, volatile matter (Y-VM) of 71.90%-wt, and was pyrolyzed at 300 ?, 350 ?, 400 ?, 450 ?, and 500 ?. From the experiment, as many as 95 compounds in bio-crude oil (BCO) were successfully produced which contain 72.79% wt water and 27.21%-wt organic compounds. According to the characterization of 15 BCO components, they were classified into carbohydrates, fatty acids, phenol, aromatics, and water. Furthermore, the activation energy of products formation revealed a temperature dependence as a second-order polynomial function. Ultimately, this approach shows its satisfying capability to predict each BCO component mass fraction and yield which closely fits the experimental results.