Investigation of catalytic pyrolysis of Azolla filiculoides and Ulva fasciata for bio-oil production

The present study investigates the production of bio-oil by catalytic pyrolysis of macroalgae biomass. The effect of catalyst type and catalyst to feed ratio on the yield of bio-oil production and its qualitative characteristics were investigated. Experimental results showed that the maximum yield of the bio-oil production for Azolla and Ulva biomass were respectively 26.5% and 29.5%, both with HZSM-5 catalyst and with the catalyst to feed ratio of 1:10. The largest obtained higher heat values were 36.73 MJ/kg for Azolla bio-oil and 36.18 MJ/kg for Ulva biooil, both with 1:5 Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst. Regarding comparing Azolla and Ulva yield, Ulva bio-oil with efficiency, HHV, energy efficiency, cetane number, iodine value of 26.6%, 34.76 MJ/kg, 75.79%, 73.2, and 116.5, respectively. The results show that the bio-oil produced from the pyrolysis of Azolla and Ulva biomass can be very promising for industrial-scale production.