Pyrolysis-Based Synthesis and Characterization of Bio-Oil From Brassica Carinata Oilseed Meals and Its Application to Produce Bio-Jet Fuel

Bio-oils produced through thermochemical conversion processes such as pyrolysis from streamside products obtained from a bio-jet fuel production facility may be used as promising low-carbon alternative feedstocks in the aviation industry. The present investigation applied slow pyrolysis that was conducted at different temperatures to produce bio-oils from hexane-defatted Brassica carinata oilseed meals. The pyrolysis experiments proved that the highest temperature (550℃) produced the maximum bio-oil yield (55.01%), while the lowest temperature (350℃) produced the maximum bio-char (34.93%) and gas (45.84%) yields. An in-depth characterization was performed on the bio-oils to investigate whether they may be employed as alternative feedstocks for bio-jet fuel production. As a result, properties were studied using physicochemical characterization, ultimate analysis, atomic ratios analysis, heating value analysis, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry analysis, gas chromatograph-mass spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The characterization results of the bio-oils revealed that they had moisture (35.38 − 48.64%), pH (8.50), kinematic viscosity (14.10 − 16.05 cSt), ash content (0.17 − 0.208%), carbon (55.4 − 62.3%), hydrogen (9.02 − 9.29%), nitrogen (6.08 − 6.20%), sulfur (0.61 − 0.69%), oxygen (21.47 − 28.56%), and higher heating value (26.98 − 30.45 MJ/kg). Furthermore, it was found that the major classes of compounds identified include saturated hydrocarbons (13.56 − 14.52%), saturated fatty acids (2.33 − 3.67%), monounsaturated hydrocarbons (30.28 − 34.62%), monounsaturated fatty acids (6.54 − 11.23%), polyunsaturated fatty acids (1.41 − 2.82%), and Others (such as nitrogenated compounds) (38.44 − 39.62%). In conclusion, because of their remarkable excellent characteristics, and because they can be catalytically upgraded into advanced fuels by catalytic hydrotreatment methods (like hydrodeoxygenation and hydrodenitrogenation), and hydrocracking reactions, the oils can be used as promising alternative feedstocks for the aviation industry.