Liquid Fuel Generation from Onion Shell: An Experimental Approach of Pyrolysis Process

Md. Alamgir Hossain, Fazlur Rashid, Md. Shamim Akhter, Muhammad Aziz () and Md. Emdadul Hoque ()
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Md. Alamgir Hossain: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur 5200, Bangladesh
Fazlur Rashid: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi 6204, Bangladesh
Md. Shamim Akhter: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi 6204, Bangladesh
Muhammad Aziz: Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-Ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan
Md. Emdadul Hoque: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi 6204, Bangladesh

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: Energy demand is rising over time in both developing and developed countries. Therefore, finding new sources of energy is a prime concern now. For this effort, this paper presents the pyrolysis of onion ( Allium cepa ) shells in a reactor with a fixed bed for generating alternative liquid fuel. This paper also compares alternative fuel characteristics, including higher heating value, viscosity, density, pour point, and flash point, with conventional petroleum fuels at optimal process conditions. The work adopted pyrolysis to produce liquid fuel at a temperature range of 400–550 °C and utilized LPG to provide a heat source. The liquid product (fuel oil) was collected, and non-condensable gas was flared. The liquid product was tested for various properties, and the results of the analyses show that alternative fuel has a higher heating value of 12.227 MJ/kg, density of 800 kg/m 3 , viscosity of 4.3 cP at 30 °C, pour point below −6.2 °C, and flash point around 137 °C, with a variation due to the volatile matters. To obtain favorable conditions for pyrolysis, some parameters, including bed temperature, sample quantity, average particle size, and operating time, were varied and analyzed. The physio-chemical properties made the alternative fuels isolated from conventional petroleum fuels due to the variation in distillation temperature. This work shows that the fuel oil generated from the pyrolysis of onion shells could be considered an alternative source of fuel.

Keywords: alternative fuels; biomass waste; onion shell; pyrolysis; petroleum fuels (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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