Analysis of Pineapple, Yam and Plantain Peels as Feedstock for Bio Oil Production

Abstract Energy transition and waste management are pressing challenges plaguing Nigeria, these challenges are intensified by population growth and excessive generation of solid waste. Converting waste into energy through pyrolysis is a viable and sustainable method of handling these problems. This thermal process converts waste such as Plastics and Agricultural residues into products of value such as gas, bio oil and bio-char. In this study, the investigation of three select second generation biomass was carried out as optimum sources for bio oil production. The characterization of Pineapple peels, Yam peels and Plantain peels were carried out via proximate analysis with results for moisture content ranging from 2.03% to 3.55% for the samples, while ash content ranged from 3.58% to 7.33%, crude fat ranged from 0.96% to 5.86% and nitrogen ranged from 0.61 to 1.04% respectively. The ultimate analysis showed high carbon content ranging from 35.09% to 44.97% and low nitrogen which ranged from 0.76% to 1.69%, the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) results revealed OH, C-H, C=C functional group etc. The Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) gave insight into the decomposition behaviour of the biomass showing decomposition profiles associated with lignin and cellulose. The Scanning Electron Microscope Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy revealed high amounts of carbon concentration ranging from 42.49 to 69.89 with varying results for nitrogen concentration varying from 7.7 to 28.11. The results from these tests suggested the viability of these wastes as sources for bio oil production via pyrolysis. Thermal pyrolysis was carried out on each of the wastes at a temperature of 450 ℃ with a heating rate of 10 ℃/min. An Ignition point test, pH and Gas chromatography tests were carried out on the resulting bio oil with the pH results indicating the bio oil to be very acidic in nature whilst the ignition point test showed the samples to be stable with relatively high with pineapple peels having 287 ℃. The overall results showed pineapple peels as the best feedstock amongst the three investigated in this study as it had the highest bio oil yield as well as the highest ignition point.