Optimizing slow pyrolysis of banana peels wastes using response surface methodology
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Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Environmental Engineering Research
Abstract
Renewable energy from biomass and biodegradable wastes can significantly supplement the global energy demand if properly harnessed.
Pyrolysis is the most profound modern technique that has proved effective and efficient in the energy conversion of biomass to yield various
products like bio-oil, biochar, and syngas. This study focuses on optimization of slow pyrolysis of banana peels waste to yield banana peels
vinegar, tar and biochar as bio-infrastructure products. Response surface methodology using central composite design was used to determine
the optimum conditions for the banana wastes using a batch reactor pyrolysis system. Three factors namely heating temperature (350-550oC),
sample mass (200-800 g) and residence time (45-90 min) were varied with a total of 20 individual experiments. The optimal conditions for
wood vinegar yield (48.01%) were 362.6oC, 989.9 g and 104.2 min for peels and biochar yield (30.10%) were 585.9oC, 989.9 g and 104.2 min.
The slow pyrolysis showed significant energy conversion efficiencies of about 90% at p-value ≤ 0.05. These research findings are of primary
importance to Uganda considering the abundant banana wastes amounting to 17.5 million tonnes generated annually, thus using them as
pyrolysis feedstock can boost the country’s energy status.
Description
Keywords
Biochar, Optimization, Renewable energy, Response surface methodology, Wood vinegar
Citation
Omulo, G., Banadda, N., Kabenge, I., & Seay, J. (2019). Optimizing slow pyrolysis of banana peels wastes using response surface methodology. Environmental Engineering Research , 24 (2), 354-361. https://doi.org/10.4491/eer.2018.269