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Comprehensive pyrolysis investigation of Lemongrass and Tagetes minuta residual biomass: bio-oil composition and biochar physicochemical properties

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Abstract

The generation of spent aroma plant/process waste is increasing due to the growth of the essential oil industries due to the demand for essential oils. This study aims to convert such spent aroma plant waste, i.e., spent Lemongrass and Tagetes minuta, into bio-oil and biochar using slow pyrolysis. In this work, pyrolysis is conducted at different temperatures (350–500 ℃) at a heating rate of 10 ℃/min in a nitrogen atmosphere with a 50 mL/min flow rate. The maximum bio-oil yield obtained for Lemongrass was 37.3 wt% with a biochar yield of 31.6 wt% at 400 ℃; however, in the case of Tagetes minuta, the maximum bio-oil yield (39 wt%) was observed at 450 ℃ with 27.3 wt% of biochar yield. GC-MS analysis of bio-oil indicated its phenolic-rich nature along with other functionalities, i.e., carbonyls, furans, N-containing, and other types. Maximum phenolics observed with 60.27 area% for Lemongrass and 62.75 area% for Tagetes minuta at 450 ℃. Finally, to understand the breaking patterns of the biomass framework, flash pyrolysis through the analytical instrument, Py-GC/MS, was carried out at a high heating rate of 20 ℃/ms.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the director of CSIR-IIP for his constant support and encouragement. A special thanks to the analytical division of the Indian Institute of Petroleum for assistance with characterization. Ramandeep Kaur, grateful to UGC, Delhi, for providing a Senior Research Fellowship.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sustainability Impact Assessment Area (SIA), Material Resource Efficiency Division (MRED), CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun, 248005, India

    Ramandeep Kaur, Valiveti Tarun Kumar, Bhavya B. Krishna & Thallada Bhaskar

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India

    Ramandeep Kaur, Bhavya B. Krishna & Thallada Bhaskar

  3. Chemical and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia

    Ramandeep Kaur

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  1. Ramandeep Kaur
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  2. Valiveti Tarun Kumar
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Contributions

Ramandeep Kaur: investigation, formal analysis, data curation, writing—original draft. Valiveti Tarun Kumar: formal analysis, writing. Bhavya B. Krishna: writing—review and editing, supervision. Thallada Bhaskar: supervision, conceptualization.

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Correspondence to Bhavya B. Krishna.

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Highlights

•Pyrolysis of spent Lemongrass (LG) and Tagetes minuta (TM) optimized.

•Maximum bio-oil yield from Spent LG and TM was 37.3 and 39 wt.%, respectively.

•Slow pyrolysis oil contained a maximum of phenolics at 450℃.

•Derived biochar was amorphous and porous with high total carbon content.

•Py-GC/MS study assisted in understanding the breaking pathway.

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Kaur, R., Kumar, V.T., Krishna, B.B. et al. Comprehensive pyrolysis investigation of Lemongrass and Tagetes minuta residual biomass: bio-oil composition and biochar physicochemical properties. Biomass Conv. Bioref. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-024-05764-2

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