Application of Box-Behnken Design for the Optimization of the production of pyrolytic bio-oil from Udara seed in a fixed bed reactor through pyrolysis process

Abstract

This work optimized the production of bio-oil from udara seeds using pyrolysis. Response surface methodology (RSM) was utilized to analyze the concurrent impact of temperature, particle size diameter, and inert gas flow rate on the percentage yield of bio-oil during the pyrolysis of udara seed. A three-variable, five-level Box-Behnken design (BBD) consisting of 17 experimental runs was employed to formulate a quadratic model for optimizing pyrolysis conditions. The optimum pyrolysis parameters for achieving the highest bio-oil production were a temperature of 422.9 °C, a particle size diameter of 2.5 mm, and an inert gas flow rate of 1.42 L/min. Under these conditions, the bio-oil yield was determined to be 59.73%. The model validation revealed no substantial discrepancy between anticipated and observed values. GC-MC analysis indicates that the predominant monounsaturated fatty acid made up 45.55% of the total fatty acid content, which depicts that the oil belongs to the linoleic acid group. The FTIR analysis reveals that the alkene group contributes to increased reactivity and combustion efficiency, boosts the octane number of the bio-oil, and decreases the boiling point of the oil. FTIR and GC-MS analysis findings confirm that the bio-oil was within ASTM specifications.