Thermal conversion of different biomass samples and characterisation of the products

In this thesis, producing liquid and solid products from four different biomass samples via pyrolysis and characterisation of these products was investigated. Experiments performed with free falling reactor and fixed bed reactor showed that liquid and solid product yields were higher when fixed bed reactor was used. Maximum yield for liquid product was attained with soybean cake at 550oC pyrolysis temperature and with 10oC/min heating rate. Aliphatic subfractions of bio-oils obtained from corn stalks and peanut shells showed similarities with standard diesel. Physical activation was applied to all solid products and it was found that solid products obtained from pine cones and peanut shells could be used as raw materials for producing activated carbons having high surface areas. Chemical activation was applied to pine cones and it was found that producing microporous activated carbons with surface areas higher than 1000 m2/g could be possible. For all activated carbons, adsorption of nickel from aqueous solutions was investigated. As a result, it was determined that pyrolysis of biomass gives valuable liquid and solid products under proper conditions. Keywords: Biomass, Pyrolysis, Bio-oil, Activated Carbon, Characterisation