Bio-Oil Yield from Fast Pyrolysis of Malaysian Bamboo via Drop Type Pyrolyzer

The basis of this project was to explore the potential of Malaysian bamboo as a candidate of clean energy resource which can be produced renewably. The driving force towards this project was due to the limited information on bamboo pyrolysis in Malaysia even though bamboo pyrolysis was given considerable attention in other countries. Therefore, this led to the main purpose of this study which would be to investigate the yield of Gigantochloa Scortechinii focusing on bio-oil energy properties and conditions affecting the bio-oil yield. Due to time limitation, the scope of this study would be concentrated on the effect of temperature towards the yield of bio-oil and its properties. The bamboo, Gigantochloa Scortechinii was amassed from Tasik Banding Gerik with permission from Department of Forestry, Gerik, Perak. The experimental approach was divided into three steps. Firstly, sample preparation and characterization of bamboo. This included grinding the bamboo to desired fractional size of 250-500μm as well as preliminary analyses of bamboo characteristics such as moisture content, ash content, elementary composition of C, H, N and S, and calorific value. Secondly, pyrolysis experiment would be carried out using fast pyrolysis technique via drop type pyrolyzer. Three types of products were to be obtained namely char, bio-oil, and gas with bio-oil as the main product under study. The experiment would be repeated with three different temperatures of 450oC, 500oC, and 550oC respectively. Lastly, the bio-oil and other products would be analyzed qualitative and quantitatively. Ultimately, the results of this study would be treated as a comparative basis towards other similar studies in the future.