A comparative study and analysis of two types of bio-oil samples obtained from freshwater algae and microbial treated algae

Abstract

Pyrolysis experiments of two types of algal biomass (Spirogyra) freshwater Algae (FWA) and microbial treated algae (MTA) were carried out in an electrically heated stainless steel reactor to determine the effects of pyrolysis temperature, pyrolysis product yields and bio-oil properties. After pyrolysis two types of bio-oil were produced, freshwater algae bio-oil (FWAB) and microbial treated algae bio-oil (MTAB). Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) has been done of both types of bio-oil samples and also a comparison is shown between these two samples and explained it with the help of graphs and tables. The bio-oil was obtained from pyrolysis in which temperature of the system was kept 25°C and then increased up to 650°C time by time. After pyrolysis the obtained bio-oil was introduced to distillation and then analyzed by GC-MS technique and FTIR, which show different peaks and results of different compounds and functional groups present in both bio-oil samples and a noticeable difference is shown between these two bio-oil samples on the basis of hydrocarbons as well as other compounds.