Numerical combustion studies of pyrolysis bio-oil from torrefied coconut endocarp

SHIRLEY DUARTE; DARIO ALVISO; NELSON ALVARENGA; JUAN CARLOS ROLON

Estocolmo

Conferencia; 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Proceedings; 2017

Through pyrolysis process is possible to obtain value-added biofuels and chemicals. However, several unfavorable properties of its liquid products, i.e. bio-oil hinder its applications in combustion process. Bio-oil, is a complex real fuel, considered a carbon-neutral alternative to  hydrocarbons in the transport sector, and is composed of hundreds of compounds mostly oxygenated. These characteristics make it unstable owing to its high oxygen content and consequently high chemical reactivity. To enhance bio-oil properties, pyrolysis was performed on torrefied coconut endocarp and the collected bio-oils were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Based on the GC/MS analysis of the pyrolysis bio-oils, a surrogate (40 % ethanol + 60 % toluene, vol)  representative of the real fuel chemistry was proposed for the numerical combustion model. The results of bio-oil surrogate combustion in 0-Dconstant-volume auto-ignition and 1-D freely propagating laminar  premixed flame configurations are presented. The key objective of the study is to obtain fundamental parameters of bio-oil fuel combustion, for the first time in our knowledge. A kinetic model available in literature was chosen to carry the simulations. The kinetic modeling for bio-oil oxidation was performed using the REGATH code. Different flames operating conditions such as equivalence ratios, pressure and temperature were studied.