International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET)
Volume 10, Issue 04, April 2019, pp. 178-186. Article ID: IJMET_10_04_015
Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijmet/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=10&IType=4
ISSN Print: 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359
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INVESTIGATING PYROLYSIS
CHARACTERISTICS OF DENDROCALAMUS
ASPER BAMBOO
*Teodoro A. Amatosa, Jr.
Engineering Graduate Program, School of Engineering, University of San Carlos, Talamban
Campus, Cebu City, 6000 Philippines
Michael E. Loretero
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of San Carlos,
Talamban Campus, Cebu City, 6000 Philippines
Yee-wen Yen
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science
and Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Andromeda Dwi Laksono
Institut Teknologi Kalimantan, Kampus ITK Karang Joang, Balikpapan 76127, Kalimantan
Timur, Indonesia.
*Corresponding Author
ABSTRACT
Green engineering investigated as a possible organic green material in the
combustion process and heating applications. A bioreactor system processed
Dendrocalamus asper bamboo culms as green engineering materials to theto industrial
process that produces valuable elements from a natural treatment by soaking with an
average of pH 7.6 level of sea-water. Pyrolysis Combustion Flow Calorimeter and
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) to utilized the precise heat capacity extent to
characterize the materials. A waste product in this process is the activated carbon,
which is highly in demand for water cleansing system and sold to neutralize the fuel
cost. The primary stage at 68-89oC is the exothermic dehydration of the biomass with
the release of water and low-molecular-weight gases like carbon monoxide (CO) and
carbon dioxide (CO2). The results from this research will be significant and helpful to
develop and utilize the wastes from Dendrocalamus asper bamboo with 134.58 kJ for
any renewable energy product.
Keywords: natural treatment, pyrolysis, green engineering, biomass.
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Investigating Pyrolysis Characteristics of Dendrocalamus Asper Bamboo
Cite this Article: Teodoro A. Amatosa, Jr., Michael E. Loretero, Yee-wen Yen and
Andromeda Dwi Laksono, Investigating Pyrolysis Characteristics of Dendrocalamus
Asper Bamboo, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology,
10(4), 2019, pp. 178-186.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=10&IType=4
1. INTRODUCTION
Through pyrolysis technology, biomass could turn into chemicals with high value and with
energy-density products such as liquid, solid-state energy, and gas. Evaluation of bamboo
through life cycle assessment is presented to resolve the environmental implication of bamboo
as a source for construction material. The results of this interpretation show that, in some
applications, bamboo has marked by a high "factor 20" environmental impact, a 20 times less
load on the environment than compared to some alternatives [1]. Wood and bamboo have
renown in the green engineering technology industry recently because of their environmentally
promising characteristics: a natural process can replace them, biodegradable, confine carbon
from the atmosphere, low in combined energy, and providing less pollution in development
than concrete or steel [2, 3].
One of the priority products during slow pyrolysis is the biochar, which can utilize as solid
fuels [4], soil amendment [5], activated carbon precursor [6], metallurgical industry reduction
[7] and material for absorption in environmental cleanup and wastewater treatment [8, 9]. Its
properties are widely affected by pyrolysis set-up such as feedstock type, pyrolysis temperature,
ash composition, inert or low oxygen environment, heating rate, and pretreatment methods [10,
11]. Materials for feedstock pyrolysis such as wood is one of the renewable biomass been use
[12], coconut husk [13], corn stover [14], bamboo [15], and microalgae [16]. Fast growth,
shorter felling period (3–5 years) and lower ash content are bamboos advantage. Cellulose,
hemicellulose, and lignin are primary components of the bamboo that can utilize for the
production of various chemicals with high value-added [17, 18]. Based on the past few years
of the increased production, the advantages of high porous structure and large surface area are
from bamboo-derived biochar.
The influence of reaction conditions during the process which the researchers give interest
in the kinds of biomass for pyrolyzing, properties and its application from different types of
biochar. Rice straw as materials from agricultural waste [19], peanut hull [20], and crop residue
[21], palm kernel shell from forestry waste [22], hardwood sawdust [23] and pine needles [24],
and some sewage sludge from garbage [25] and chicken manures [26]. In terms of reaction
conditions, much research had done before. [27] Investigated and found that the biochar yield
particle size increased and the effect of temperature through pyrolysis was decreasing or with
increasing the sample particle size. The investigated reaction time and biomass pyrolysis, [22]
used the microwave to analyze the flow rate of nitrogen gas of sample mass and to determine
the optimum pyrolysis condition. Besides that, [28] investigated the heating rate data on biochar
production from 1 and 100 ◦C. To be precise, the concentration of stable C in biochar through
heating rate had an outstanding impact. [21] Found that high-temperature biochar produced had
higher surface area; lower organic and with low temperature and higher oxygen content. And
lastly, biochar always used for countering land degradation and improving agriculture [29], and
adsorption of heavy metal ions [30].
In this study, pyrolysis of bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper) was conducted at fixed bed
pyrolysis locally manufactured reactor to establish pyrolysis as feedstock product yield data
(especially for biochar) and energy transfer of cooling air during slow pyrolysis. The
transformation of native bamboo by pyrolysis to biochar can be a potential and alternative
option for industries of steel making, soil amelioration, carbon sequestration, wastewater
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Teodoro A. Amatosa, Jr., Michael E. Loretero, Yee-wen Yen and Andromeda Dwi Laksono
treatment and so on. These results will provide necessary information for bamboo pyrolysis to
consider the parameter optimization and large-scale pyrolysis system development.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1. Materials
Three-year-old Giant Bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper) harvested from Mandaue City, Province
of Cebu in the Philippines. Portions cut up to 3.0 m from the basal part that will use for the
assessment. The bamboo was manually cut into a specified length of 300 mm and was split
longitudinally at the top, middle and bottom part of the bamboo. A set up was performed using
traditional treatment by soaking it in sea-water and show up the specimens to wetting and drying
cycle; the bamboo specimens were removed from the water and were stacked vertically in airdrying for one (1) week [31].
Table 1 Macroscopic characteristics of Giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper)
Macroscopic Characteristics
Culm length
Internode length
Internode Diameter
Culm wall Thickness
Unit
M
Cm
cm
Mm
[32] Literature [33] [34]
20-30
18-23
20-25
35
14-45
8-20
9-13
1.2-9.3
11-20
10-14
4-30
Philippine Bamboo *
20-30
30-35
8-18
6-13
*Present study
32
Dransfield and Widjaja. 1995.
33
Othman et al. 1995.
34
Pakhkeree. 1997.
2.2. Methods
The external heat source made from electric resistance and heating element used was nichrome
wire. Nichrome made from nickel, often iron, and chromium. To produce enough resistance
and generate heat, any conductive wire and some metals can be utilized for heating that has
great efficiency to conduct electricity. Once heated, nichrome wire could not be compared to
some metals that oxidize quickly and become brittle and break when heated in the air due to its
outer layer with chromium oxide, mostly impenetrable to oxygen, relation to energy and work
are stable in air and prevent for further oxidation through the heating element.
The reactor design presented in the figures was manufacture by Ralds Corporation located
at Kagudoy Road, Talamban, Cebu. The experimental set-up operated at a maximum
temperature of 340°C and heating rate of 3°C /min.
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Investigating Pyrolysis Characteristics of Dendrocalamus Asper Bamboo
Figure 1 shows the photograph of the experimental setup (a) reactor; (b) set-up for data gathering; and
(c) temperature and weight gathering set-up
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This paper analyzed the treated Giant bamboo species within one week and air-dried for another
week the possibility of energy utilization through pyrolysis.
Figure 2 curves of Philippine bamboo in temperature vs. time vs. mass loss
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Teodoro A. Amatosa, Jr., Michael E. Loretero, Yee-wen Yen and Andromeda Dwi Laksono
The significant mass loss was noticed in figure 2 at around 300°C — the same as the work
of [35] on pyrolysis. This stage, according to them, is attributed primarily to the decomposition
into volatiles. Moreover, the mass loss at 20-280°C was mostly due to the successive
evaporation of the volatile hydrocarbon and the low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons at 280400°C; 400 and 500°C mass loss due to a composition of thermal cracking and mediummolecular-weight hydrocarbons [36].
Figure 3 shows the graphical data analysis (a) temperature history of the gas vs. temperature rise and,
(b) gas and air data vs. time
Table 2 Specific Data for Energy Transfer
3.1. Analysis of Gases on Condenser Side
The pyrolysis procedure can be divided, from a thermal standpoint, into stages, according to
[37]. At the drying stage (~100°C), free moisture and some unbound water released. These
explain the discovery of temperature due to the available moisture released by the feedstock
(Dendrocalamus asper). The initial stage at 100-300°C is the exothermic dehydration of the
biomass to allow water and early-molecular-weight gases like CO and CO2. The intermediate
stage which occurs at 200-600°C is the primary pyrolysis where most of the vapor or precursor
to bio-oil produced. These explain the continued rise of the temperature because of the presence
of gases aside from the moisture.
Moreover, from the work of [38] on pyrolysis of coconut biomass, CO2 was produced as
the temperature reached 150°C. The formation of CO, CH4, and H2 followed that of CO2 as the
temperature continued to increase. The composition of CO2 and CO reached the maximum at a
temperature equal to 300°C. It has explained that the pyrolysis of cellulose produces between
300 and 400°C of CO2 and CO [39].
The same form of the graph has observed in the work of [35] on pyrolysis. The temperature
fluctuation of the sensors might explain by the complex flow developed in the pipeline, which
was caused by the conversion of the feedstock into oil and gas generating in the pipeline.
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Investigating Pyrolysis Characteristics of Dendrocalamus Asper Bamboo
Figure 4 DSC curves of Philippine bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper) on (a) bottom, (b) middle, and (c)
top part
Analysis using Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) performed on the different portions
(bottom, middle and top) of giant bamboo are shown in Figures 4a, 4b, and 4c. The graphs in
Figure 4, an endothermic and exothermic event for giant bamboo fiber is observable in the all
position — these events displayed through a result of exothermic and endothermic peaks. For
the examined giant bamboo, parts have broad endothermic peaks could be observed in the
temperature range of 30 to 135°C.
Negative displacement occurred when heat concentration by the bamboo fibers direct to the
evaporation of free water position within cellulose. The transition temperature of unbound or
open water in a natural mixture of the compound is the same measurement to pure water, while
it is higher than bound water [40]. From Fig. 4, it can notice that in the endotherm, the
endothermic peak of bottom giant bamboo fig. 2a (89 °C) is the highest and that of bottom giant
bamboo fig.4c (68 °C) is the lowest similar to others. Thus, bottom giant bamboo number 3
probably has the highest lignocellulose content which means endothermic reactions indicated
that the depolymerization of cellulose molecules of bamboo required higher temperatures due
to their higher stabilities. The endothermic peak of bottom giant bamboo fig. 4a has a higher
temperature of 82.82°C compared with [41].
The observation involved bottom giant bamboo figures 4a, 4b and 4c portions that exhibited
an exothermic peak at 330, 334, and 330 °C, respectively, which was indicative of the charging
process and resulted in little residual material. The exothermic events in these parts might
connect to breakage of cellulose chains in a crystalline region (highly ordered) of their
microfibrils [39].
4. CONCLUSION
A native organic material from the Philippines has properties showing better performance to
some other natural fibers (cellulose, hemp, flax, and sugar cane). Moreover, the temperature is
affected by the fluctuation of the gas flow and that a positive relationship characterizes it. From
the data, giant bamboo has the exothermic peak in the range 334-341oC and 68-89oC for
exothermic dehydration. Temperatures increased as the gas flow increased and rapidly
decreased as the flow subsided. In most cases, this char layer leads to reduction because of the
limitation of mass and thermal assign.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study conceptualized by the author/s and sponsored through Engineering Research and
Development for Technology under the Department of Science and Technology, the Philippines
and all experiments were carried out in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing
Engineering Laboratory, University of San Carlos, Cebu City, 6000 Philippines and to Engr.
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Teodoro A. Amatosa, Jr., Michael E. Loretero, Yee-wen Yen and Andromeda Dwi Laksono
Andromeda Dwi Laksono and Prof. Dr. Yee-wen Yen for some inputs and allowing the
researcher to conduct microstructure experiments and analysis at the Electronic Packaging and
Green Materials Laboratory, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei
106, Taiwan.
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