Hydrothermal pyrolysis of swine manure to bio-oil: Effects of operating parameters on products yield and characterization of bio-oil

Advanced hydrothermal pyrolysis technology was used to process swine manure for waste reduction and energy production. The effect of operating parameters on products yield was investigated to determine the optimal condition for the process. Operating temperature, retention time, and the initial pressure of process gas were all found to affect oil yield. Increasing the temperature from 260 degrees C to 340 degrees C was found to increase the oil yield from 14.9% to 24.2%. Retention time affected the completeness of the hydrothermal liquefaction process. The hydrothermal pyrolysis of swine manure was completed within 15 min. Increasing the initial nitrogen pressure by a specific amount improved oil yield. The results of this study showed that the optimal conditions of operating parameters were: 340 degrees C; retention time of 15 min, and initial process gas pressure of 100 psi. The composition of the oil product was also analyzed by GC-MS. FTIR spectroscopic, and elemental analysis techniques. The elemental analysis showed that bio-oil could be a potential source of synthetic fuels and chemical feedstock. Published by Elsevier B.V.