Author(s)

Josilaine A. C. Durange, Margareth R. L. Santos, Marcelo M. Pereira, Luiz A. P. Fernandes Jr., Marcio N. Souza, Anderson N. Mendes, Liena M. Mesa, Caio G. Sánchez, Elisabete M. S. Sanchez, Juan M. M. Pérez, Nakédia M. F. Carvalho

Escola de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Faculdade de Engenharia Agrícola, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.
Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazi.
Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.
Instituto de Química, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil..
Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Under the renewable energy context, sugarcane biomass pyrolysis has been growing as a convenient route to produce bio-oil, which can be set into the chemical industry and refineries as building blocks or combustion fuel. In this work sugarcane straw was submitted to direct pyrolysis in a fluidized bed pilot plant at 500°C, in presence of air. Sugarcane in natura was also pyrolysed as a model for comparison, in order to determine the viability of processing different sources of raw biomass. The physicochemical characterization of the biomass precursors as well as of the bio-oils was also carried out, which points both biomass feedstocks as suitable for bio-oil production in terms of viscosity, surface tension, density and acidity. The bio-oil obtained from sugarcane in natura presented higher carbon and hydrogen content as well as lower oxygen content. On the other hand, the metal content is higher in the bio-oil obtained from sugarcane straw, in special the iron and potassium contents were 807 ppm and 123 ppm against 27 ppm and 1 ppm in the bio-oil from sugarcane in natura. Aliphatic and aromatic compounds as well as carbohydrates scaffolds were identified as the main components of the bio-oil. GC-MS analyses showed aromatic products from lignine fragmentation and free sugars and sugar derivatives.

Sugarcane; Pyrolysis; Bio-Oil Characterization

J. Durange, M. Santos, M. Pereira, L. Fernandes Jr., M. Souza, A. Mendes, L. Mesa, C. Sánchez, E. Sanchez, J. Pérez and N. Carvalho, "Physicochemical Properties of Pyrolysis Bio-Oil from Sugarcane Straw and Sugarcane in Natura," Journal of Biomaterials and Nanobiotechnology, Vol. 4 No. 2A, 2013, pp. 10-19. doi: 10.4236/jbnb.2013.42A002.