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Flash pyrolysis of biomass: a review of recent advances

Article in Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy · June 2022

DOI: 10.1007/s10098-022-02339-5

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Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-022-02339-5

REVIEW

Flash pyrolysis of biomass: a review of recent advances

Joshua O. Ighalo1,2 · Felicitas U. Iwuchukwu1 · Oghenegare E. Eyankware3 · Kingsley O. Iwuozor4 ·
Kristinoba Olotu5 · Omoregie Cyril Bright5 · Chinenye Adaobi Igwegbe1

Received: 16 December 2021 / Accepted: 13 May 2022

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022

Abstract
To assuage global consumer demand for energy, there is a need for increased biofuel production. Flash pyrolysis is an
important technique for biomass conversion into eco-friendly biofuels. This review discusses the research progress and key
findings made over the years on the flash pyrolysis of biomass. Flash pyrolysis oil yields can be as high as 60–75 wt% at
optimised conditions. For the process to be effective, temperature, heating rate and residence time would be within the range
of 450–600 °C, 103 − 104 °C/s and < 1 s. Flash pyrolysis oil is characterised by high water content (usually > 15 wt%). The
main pyrolysis products of lignin part biomass are phenols. The phenolic part includes phenols, hydroxylphenols, meoth-
oxyphenols, dimethoxyphenols. Flash pyrolysis products of biomass (as with other pyrolysis types) must be upgraded before
use. They are unstable, re-polymerised and are not miscible with hydrocarbons. The future of the technology is promising as
products obtained can serve as better feedstock for other re-refining processes (compared to other pyrolysis process types).
Furthermore, it is faster and can handle higher feedstock volumes at similar reactor volumes and process intricacies. Due to
the advantages of product yield, it is an important technology that should be explored for energy conversion of biomass and
can also serve as a solid waste management technique.
Graphical abstract

Keywords Biochar · Bio-oil · Biomass · Energy · Flash pyrolysis

Introduction

* Joshua O. Ighalo With concerns over energy shortage and the rapid increase
[email protected] in global demand, renewable energy sources have been
* Chinenye Adaobi Igwegbe considered a key option to substitute conventional fossil
[email protected] fuels (Umenweke et al. 2021). Due to their widespread
Extended author information available on the last page of the article distribution and low cost, renewable fuels are being

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Vol.:(0123456789)
 J. O. Ighalo et al.

encouraged as an alternative to fossil fuels (Adeniyi and

Ighalo 2020). This has also caused the extensive use of
alternative fuels such as bio-alcohols, biomass, and natural
oil/fat-derived fuels in some developed countries. Apart
from the reason of its abundance, biomass is usually seen
as the most promising alternative to fossil fuels because
it is the only renewable source of fixed carbon that can
be transformed into fuels (solid, liquid and gas) which
are used in the generation of both power and heat (Ighalo
et al. 2020). Another reason is that it does not contrib-
ute to the net rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide (Amutio
et al. 2012a; Kan et al. 2016). The full estimated poten-
tial of annual biomass availability is predicted to be about
1.08 × ­1011 tons (tons of oil equivalent), which is about ten
times the world’s current energy need (Kan et al. 2016).
Biomass can be converted to other chemicals or utilised
in the production of energy through various routes. One of
these processes or routes is through pyrolysis.
Pyrolysis can be described as a thermo-chemical break-
down of biomass, either in a limited amount or absence of an
oxidising agent that does not allow for gasification (Nyazika
et al. 2019). During pyrolysis, different other reactions take
Fig. 1  The general scheme of flash pyrolysis adapted from Reused
place within the system simultaneously. These reactions with attribution to intech open under the creative commons attribu-
are dependent on the temperature and residence time dis- tion 3.0 unported (CC BY 3.0) Zaman et al. (2017).
tribution of the gases, oils and chars (Lédé et al. 2002). It
involves the cracking, decarbonylation and decarboxylation
of the biomass material (Nzihou et al. 2019). Pyrolysis of over char, flash pyrolysis occurs at a higher temperature and
biomass involves the thermal treatment of biomass which heating rate and shorter residence time than fast pyrolysis.
gives rise to gaseous and liquid products as well as charcoal. Flash pyrolysis also referred to as ultra-fast pyrolysis
The equilibrium of the process can be adjusted to favour the is characterised by high heating rates and temperature,
production of any product of interest with fuel to feed effi- short vapour residence time usually less than one second,
ciency of up to 95.5% (Sun et al. 2010). The major constitu- and rapid cooling of the pyrolysis vapour as well as rapid
ents of biomass are cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin and removal of char from the system (Amutio et al. 2012a). Due
based on their different proportions in different biomasses, to the reduction in secondary cracking reactions in flash
they cause the thermal decomposition to take various routes pyrolysis, the yield of the liquid fraction of the products
and mechanisms and produce different chemical products (bio-oil) is maximised to about 60–75 wt% of the total prod-
(Singh et al. 2017). For any biomass, the chemical products ucts (Amutio et al. 2012a). The bio-oil obtained through
produced from the reaction are dependent upon the heating the process of flash pyrolysis is different from conventional
conditions such as the exchange heat flux density, nature and fossil oil from petroleum sources. Even with the various
temperature of the heating source, etc. and these have led to positive attributes of bio-oil, there still exist some demerits
the various kinds of pyrolysis (Lédé et al. 2002). The energy it possesses in comparison with fossil oil. The bio-oil has
fuels with high fuel-to-feed ratios that pyrolysis births make a heating value that is about half of the conventional fossil
it a very efficient process for the conversion of biomass and oil, it is very rich in oxygen-containing functional groups
a good replacement for non-renewable fossil fuel resources. which impacts it with poor properties such as high acid-
One of the liquid products from the process (methanol) is ity and viscosity, non-volatility, thermal instability, lower
a very promising replacement for conventional fossil fuels. energy density, and the tendency to polymerise in the pres-
Pyrolysis can be divided into three classes, namely; conven- ence of air, and this is dependent on the raw material as well
tional/slow, fast and flash pyrolysis. Flash pyrolysis differ as the pyrolysis process conditions (Ighalo et al. 2021). All
from other types of pyrolysis such as slow pyrolysis which these and more are reasons why the oil needs to be upgraded
involves a slow heating rate that favours secondary reactions before its usage as a transportation fuel (Imran et al. 2016).
and favours the production of char and moderate amounts Due to its simplicity, its cost efficiency for set-up, and
of tar. The general scheme is shown in Fig. 1. Even though its versatility, biomass flash pyrolysis has been gaining rec-
fast and flash pyrolysis favours the yield of bio-oil and gases ognition in the past decade and this is evident in the robust

13
Flash pyrolysis of biomass: a review of recent advances

number of published works of literature on the subject which time of material and level of oxygen influence the product
has necessitated the need for our study. This review is aimed yield. In general, the size of the feed particles affects the
at discussing the progress that has been made over the years yield of the pyrolysis product. The useful size of feed par-
on the flash pyrolysis of biomass. ticles may vary depending on the type of biomass and type
of pyrolyser. Bio-oil yield increases significantly and the
gas fraction and char decrease at small increments in the
Flash pyrolysis feedstock and product yield size particles (Sowmya Dhanalakshmi and Madhu 2021).
Large sizes of particles in the range of 1.0 mm decrease the
In this section, the yield of the flash pyrolysis process is bio-oil yield. Heating of materials can be done uniformly
discussed. Bio-oil derived from pyrolysis can be upgraded when the particle size is small but in flash pyrolysis done
in large power plants where they can be converted to olefins, in tubular transport, much larger particle sizes can be used
aromatics or heat and power with adequate acid catalysts as a result of the process being limited by the rate of heat
(Amutio et al. 2012a). Particularly, pyrolysis liquids are used supply to the reactor rather than the rate of heat absorp-
in fuel applications and for district heating applications in tion by the pyrolysing biomass (Acikgoz and Kockar 2007;
some countries. Other applications have been studied but Sowmya Dhanalakshmi and Madhu 2021). In the experiment
have not reached commercial scale yet. The solid char can carried out by Sowmya Dhanalakshmi and Madhu (2021),
be used in the form of briquettes as fuel. It can also be used the effect of gas flow rate on product yield was reported.
in purification processes when upgraded to activated carbon, Gas flow rates amplify the movement of the biomass parti-
and the obtained pyrolysis gas derived contains sufficient cle inside the reactors. Sowmya Dhanalakshmi and Madhu
energy for supplying the energy requirements of a pyrolysis (2021) reported that a maximum yield of bio-oil, char and
plant (Acikgoz and Kockar 2007). Under the same experi- gas fractions was attained at the range of 1.25 < 2.25 ­m3/hr
mental conditions, the different feedstock can yield product flow rates. The shorter residence time was also recorded to
distribution. This is due to the intrinsic effect of the differ- lead to lower prospects of secondary tar cracking.
ences in cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content of the Product yields of several raw materials at varying tem-
biomass. Cellulose and hemicellulose are more susceptible peratures are presented in Table 1. Temperature has a high
to thermal breakdown compared to lignin which requires effect on the product yields and the quantity of product
higher temperatures (Burhenne et al. 2013). Several factors yields differs with changes in temperatures. The primary
like particle sizes, temperature, gas flow rates, the residence function of temperature is to supply adequate heat for the

Table 1  Product yields of different biomasses after flash pyrolysis

Biomasses Temp (°C) Char yield (wt%) Oil yield (wt%) Gas yield (wt%) References

Linseed 550 11.5 68.8 4.5 Acikgoz and Kockar (2007)

Sewage sludge 500 – – – Alvarez et al. (2015)
Pinewood waste 500 15 75.33 7.5 Amutio et al. (2011)
Pinewood sawdust 500 75.33 – Amutio et al. (2012b)
Woody biomass 500 18.4 9.4 30.2 Imran et al. (2014)
H–ZSM5 catalysed biomass 500 16.3 14.9 46.7 Imran et al. (2016)
Cotton shell 450 – 52.5 – Madhu et al. (2016)
Populous nigra sawdust 455 – 69 16 Makibar et al. (2015)
Chlorella vulgaris 800 21.36 60.22 18.42 Maliutina et al. (2017)
Palm kernel shell 600 20.89 73.74 5.37 Maliutina et al. (2017)
Activated sludge 500 35.6 43.1 21.3 Pokorna et al. (2009)
Dewatered digested sludge 500 56.0 26.7 17.3 Pokorna et al. (2009)
Dried activated sludge 500 42.6 28.5 28.9 Pokorna et al. (2009)
Wood bark 450 23.13 49.5 – Sowmya Dhanalakshmi and
Madhu (2021)
Crop stems 500 23 52 25 Stals et al. (2010)
Beech woods – 23.01 60.23 16.72 Stephanidis et al. (2011)
Broom species 500 16.6 79.5 4.0 Amutio et al. (2013)
Acacia dealbata 500 23 72.1 – Amutio et al. (2013)
Pterospartum tridentatum 500 – 75.1 – Amutio et al. (2013)

13
 J. O. Ighalo et al.

decomposition of biomass linkages (Sowmya Dhanalakshmi Comparison of flash pyrolysis process

and Madhu 2021). The optimum temperature for the maxi- with slow and fast pyrolysis
mum yield of bio-oil is at the threshold of 450 °C as reported
in many studies (Acikgoz and Kockar 2007; Amutio et al. Flash pyrolysis is preferred over slow or fast pyrolysis for
2011; Maliutina et al. 2017; Pokorna et al. 2009; Sowmya various reasons. Firstly, the heating rate of flash pyrolysis
Dhanalakshmi and Madhu 2021). It should be noted that is higher than the rest. It could be as high as 2500 ℃/s
the information in Table 1 is not necessarily reported at while it could be between 10 and 200 ℃/s and 0.1–2 ℃/s
optimum bio-oil yield. Lower temperatures favour char for- for fast and slow pyrolysis respectively (Kan et al. 2016;
mation, whereas amplified temperatures favour gas forma- Raja et al. 2010). Secondly, the residence time required
tion (Stals et al. 2010). Active carbons can be produced by is lowest in flash pyrolysis. The process could require
subjecting char to activation processes with steam or carbon between 0.1 and 0.5 s for flash pyrolysis, 0.5–10 s for
dioxide, which can be used as sorbents or catalytic supports fast pyrolysis and as much as 550 s for slow pyrolysis
in effluent treatment. Higher temperatures aid complete (Patel et al. 2020; Uddin et al. 2018). Thirdly, the effect
conversion, at optimum conversion thresholds, a further of the shorter residence time, as well as higher heating
increase in temperature results in a noticeable decrease in oil rates, results in a higher bio-oil yield for flash pyrolysis of
yield caused by amplified oil cracking (Acikgoz and Kockar about 65–75 wt%, in comparison with fast pyrolysis yield
2007). In the case of Chlorella vulgaris (Maliutina et al. of about 50–70 wt%. As can be observed in Table 2, under
2017), a higher temperature was required for complete con- similar conditions using the same biomass, the oil yield
version. As observed in the case of Chlorella vulgaris, it has produced by slow pyrolysis is lowest while the oil yield
been reported that lipids decomposition takes place at rela- produced by flash pyrolysis is highest. However, the yield
tively higher temperatures in comparison with carbohydrates of the various products of the process is highly dependent
and proteins (Maliutina et al. 2017). The high bio-oil yields on the type of biomass.
obtained from forest residues (Amutio et al. 2013) reveal the
suitability of the conical spouted bed reactor used for its’
pyrolysis. The study also proved that liquid yield is maxim-
ised when the process is carried out with high heat and mass Effect of process factors on flash pyrolysis
transfer rates and low volatile residence time in the reactor.
Though there are certain differences between the results As earlier highlighted, flash pyrolysis is a thermochemical
obtained for the different forest residue materials (Amutio process that is influenced by different factors such as tem-
et al. 2013), the optimal bio-oil yield has been obtained for perature, the residence time of vapour within the system
Broom species (79.5 wt%), whereas Acacia dealbata pro- and gas sweep flow rate etc. Due to the criticality of these
duced the highest yield of char (23 wt%) (Table 1). Thus, process factors on product yields and overall efficiency of
broom species have the highest hemicellulose and cellulose the flash pyrolysis process, several authors such as Urban
content, which favours selective bio-oil production. On the et al. (2017) and Amutio et al. (2012a) have evaluated
other hand, char formation is strongly favoured by a high their impact on the yield of bio-oil, solid residue and non-
lignin content, as is the case for Acacia dealbata (Amutio condensable gaseous products from biomass or any ligno-
et al. 2013). In summary, other factors affect the percentages cellulosic material as highlighted in the literature. Against
of the product yields besides temperature and flash pyrol- this backdrop, this section is focused on evaluating the
ysis oil yields can be as high as 60–75 wt% at optimised effect of these different process factors on the functional-
conditions. ity of flash pyrolysis as regards conversion of biomass to
usable products.

Table 2  Comparison of the bio– Biomass Tempera- Bio–oil yield References

oil yield of slow, fast and flash ture (°C)
pyrolysis Flash Fast pyrolysis Slow
pyrolysis pyrolysis
(%) (%)

Sorghum bicolor 450 33 – 16 Al Chami et al. (2014)

Chromium–tanned waste 500 44.5 – 29.6 Marcilla et al. (2012)
Rapeseed 550 72.0 63.1% 46.7 Onay and Kockar (2003)

13
Flash pyrolysis of biomass: a review of recent advances

Temperature occurs resulting in higher gas yield as shown in Fig. 2; this

higher yield is also facilitated by an increased supply of
For flash pyrolysis of biomass to occur, certain tempera- energy to char residues breaking them into gaseous compo-
ture ranges at which breakage of linkages within biomass nents (Sohaib et al. 2017). However such high yields of bio-
occur must be achieved within the system. At such tempera- oil and gas are not recorded at lower temperatures; instead,
tures, decomposition of lignin, hemicelluloses and cellulose increased formation of char due to the presence of ash in the
content of biomass occur resulting in the formation of new biomass matrix facilitated through slow-paced heteroatom
materials such as primary products and intermediates (in the decomposition and better conversion of lignin within the
process, these intermediates usually undergo further second- structure of the biomass is reported at temperatures < 350 °C
ary cracking (Sowmya Dhanalakshmi and Madhu 2021). In (Tsai et al. 2007); herein, it is highlighted that gas com-
other words, the main role of temperature variation in the ponents comprised ~ 16 wt% of yields recorded from flash
flash pyrolysis process (which is a function of the system pyrolysis of wood sawdust (Makibar et al. 2015). Specifi-
heating rate) is the supply of appropriate heat that would cally, a higher char yield of 38.2 wt% is reported at such
ensure the adequate formation of product yields. The heating low temperatures which gradually decreases as temperatures
rate of biomass in a pyrolysis process is critical to determin- increased through 350–550 °C. At even higher temperatures
ing its regime (Urban et al. 2017), hence it is critical to the of 400–700 °C, a significant decrease of 46.3–9.6 wt% in
efficiency of a flash pyrolysis process (Lédé 2010). char yield from linseed is reported in the literature (Acikgoz
Due to the importance of system temperature in a flash and Kockar 2007).
pyrolysis process, several studies have been carried out to The influence of temperature on the composition of pyrol-
determine the optimum temperature for formations of bio- ysis gas has also been evaluated. Herein, it is shown that out
oils in the presence of reducing char and non-condensable of the different gases such as CO, ­CO2, ­H2, ­CH4 and ­C2H4
gas formation. For instance, Madhu et al. (2016) reported etc. that comprise pyrolysis gas, an increase in the produc-
that the optimum temperature for formation of bio-oils tion of CO is witnessed when the temperature is increased.
from biomass (cotton shell) within the range of 450 °C in For instance, it is reported that an increase in CO production
which an increase in bio-oil yield of 28.95–45.28 wt% was from 0.17 to 0.26 N ­ m3/kg and 0.28–0.46 N ­ m3/kg for rice
recorded while that of sewage sludge ranges from 450 to husk and sawdust respectively (Sun et al. 2010) as shown
550 °C at an increase of 30–72 wt% (Alvarez et al. 2015). in Fig. 2; this is facilitated by rupture of oxygen heterocy-
The same temperature range of 400–600 °C was reported cle, breakage of the carbonyl group and dehydrogenation of
by Amutio et al. (2012b) in their report that flash pyrolysed hydroxyl group as the case may be. The same increase in
pinewood sawdust. At these optimum temperatures, break- ­H2 production through the same temperature increase; an
age of biomass into bio-oil is sustained as conversion effi- increase of 0.05–0.21 ­Nm3/kg and 0.08–0.27 ­Nm3/kg were
ciency continuously increases till higher temperature ranges recorded for rice husk and sawdust respectively (Sun et al.
of ˃ ~ 500–600 °C, where effects of thermal cracking sets in. 2010). This increase in ­H2 formation can be attributed to
At these higher temperatures, high dislocation of mol- the rearrangement and condensation of aromatic rings and
ecules which produce non-condensable gas components dehydrogenation of char as temperature increases. For ­CO2,

Fig. 2  Effect of temperature on components of pyrolysis gas produced from(a) rice husk and (b) sawdust, reproduced from Sun et al. (2010).

13
 J. O. Ighalo et al.

it is reported that the effect of temperature on its production

in pyrolysis is minimum (Sun et al. 2010), a phenomenon
that can attribute to the fact the release of COOH groups or
breakage of C–O groups from biomass is less influenced by
temperature variations.
As for the formation of ­CH4 and ­C2H4, it is reported that
an increase in temperatures results in increased production
which is followed by a decrease at sufficiently high tempera-
tures at which thermal degradation and hindrance release
of methoxy group, volatilisation of aromatic and aliphatic
groups and charring mechanisms occurs Imran et al. (2016).
For instance, Sun et al. (2010) highlighted that although an
increase in ­CH4 and ­C2H4 concentration in pyrolysis gas is
witnessed as temperature increased, maximum concentra-
tion for C­ H4 was recorded at 0.054 at 900 °C and 0.086 at
800 °C, respectively, for rice husk while maximum produc-
tion for ­C2H4 was recorded at 0.020 ­Nm3/kg at 900 °C and
0.027 ­Nm3/kg at 800 °C for rice husk and sawdust, respec-
tively, as shown in Fig. 2. Another important property of
pyrolysis is its heating value which is reportedly influenced Fig. 3  Indication of the two-step sequence of flash pyrolysis (Sun
by temperature as regards the presence of different compo- et al. 2010)
nents. In this regard, the Lower Heating Value (LHV) of
pyrolysis gas is witnessed at lower temperatures due to the results showed that rice husk showed lower residence time
presence of CO, ­CO2, ­H2, ­CH4 and ­C2H4 as against higher as regards the attainment of weight loss equilibrium when
temperatures at which thermal degradation of these compo- compared to sawdust, an occurrence that is influenced by
nents occurs; this is depicted in Fig. 2. the higher content of volatiles and low ash content of rice
husk indicating how nature of biomass material influences
Residence time residence time and product yields.
An assessment of the effect of residence time on product
The process of flash pyrolysis is strongly influenced by the yields of flash pyrolysis of sugar bagasse residue was carried
residence time (Shuangning et al. 2006), a process defined out by Xu et al. (2011). In their study, a common trend that
as “reactor void volume divided by the fluidisation and feed- indicates a decrease in bio-oil yield increases in non-conden-
ing carrier gas flow rate at reactor conditions of biomass sable gaseous components yield and less impact on the for-
within the reactor” (Scott and Piskorz 1982). This can be mation of char as vapour residence increased was reported;
attributed to the fact that the pyrolysis reaction commences a trend that can be explained by the decomposition of bio-
immediately after the biomass is injected into the reactor. oil yield into gaseous components due to increased reaction
Herein, it is reported that the highest weight loss of biomass time and reactor bed temperature and dependence of char
is recorded within the residence time of 0.8 s (Sun et al. yield on reactor bed temperature and not vapour residence
2010), a process that is facilitated on a two-step sequence. time. At constant temperature, their results also showed that
The first sequence is usually fast phased and occurs at high a decrease in vapour residence time facilitated low produc-
temperatures and heat flux prompting a fast reaction rate tion of gaseous products as cracking of bio-oil into gaseous
with consequent high weight loss. This trend is responsi- components was impeded. In addition, the authors also high-
ble for the equilibrium weight loss fraction reported by Sun lighted that as vapour residence time increases, the optimum
et al. (2010) in which flash pyrolysis of rice husk at 1000 °C temperature for the attainment of maximum bio-oil yield is
experienced stable weight loss as residence time approached reduced. Therefore, it becomes evident that to get the opti-
1 s, an indication of the termination of the initial first fast mum bio-oil yield, residence time must be short coupled
phased sequence. This is indicated in Fig. 3. On the other with high bed temperature.
hand, their results indicated that a longer residence time The thermal sustainability of flash pyrolysis is also
of 1.5 s elapsed before an equilibrium weight was attained affected by vapour residence time. Herein, a relation-
when the temperature was reduced to 800 °C–this is due to ship between heat energy requirements of the process and
the heat energy available to break biomass bonds and form vapour residence time shows linearity. Therefore, as vapour
new products. Also, the authors reported that there exists a residence increases, more energy is needed to keep the pro-
relationship between biomass material and residence; herein, cess sustainable due to the endothermic nature of the flash

13
Flash pyrolysis of biomass: a review of recent advances

pyrolysis process; this trend is reported by Xu et al. (2011). effective to prevent the breakage of biomass bonds. As for
In other words, a short vapour residence time becomes linseed, its high volatile content of 77% as compared to the
attractive minimum heat energy requirement is needed; how- fixed carbon content of 10.7% presents a low resistance to
ever, it is important to highlight that increased residence heat and mass transfer which results in a continuous increase
time facilitates the formation of gaseous components that in bio-oil yield although an increase in distance between
provides recycled heat to the reactor for self-sustainable biomass surface and centre is recorded.
flash pyrolysis process. Nonetheless, the challenge of energy
consumption that is increased through longer residence time Sweep gas flow rate
is not ameliorated through the availability of more gaseous
products as anticipated (Xu et al. 2011). Hence, the assertion The flow rate of sweep gas influences the product yield of
that short residence time and high bed temperatures facilitate flash pyrolysis through its effect on biomass particle motion
optimum flash pyrolysis stands. (Amutio et al. 2012a). This influence has been inves-
tigated by several authors at varying flow rates and con-
Particle size stant temperature and particle size. Effect of flow rates of
1.25, 1.75, 2.0 and 2.4 ­m3/h on flash pyrolysis of cotton
The effect of particle size (which is influenced by the nature shell was investigated by Madhu et al. (2016) and results
of biomass and design of pyrolyser) on flash pyrolysis is showed that an increase in sweep gas flow rate from 1.25
based on dynamics of mass and heat transfer restrictions to 1.75 ­m3/h increased bio-oil yield from 36.8 to 51.2 wt%
(Madhu et al. 2016). Herein, variations in the particle size while a decrease in gas yield from 47.66 to 30.43 wt% and
influence the ease of heat transfer to the biomass compo- a limited increase in char production was witnessed. Fur-
nents facilitating their breakage into different products. This ther increase in gas flow rate above 1.75 ­m3/h resulted in a
is reported by Madhu et al. (2016) in their study on the effect decrease in bio-oil yield; herein, the maximum bio-oil yield
of particle size on flash pyrolysis of cotton shell; a maxi- of 51.25 wt% was obtained at 1.75 ­m3/h. This same trend is
mum bio-oil yield of 51.25 wt% at 1 mm and constant sweep reported by Sowmya Dhanalakshmi and Madhu (2021). The
gas flow rate was reported while a consequent decrease in authors reported that an increase in gas flow rate from 1.25
product yield at 1.25 mm particle size followed. This trend to 2.0 ­m3/h resulted in a corresponding increase in bio-oil
can be attributed to the resistance to mass and heat transfer yield from 40.6 to 49.5 wt% while a decrease in gas yield
facilitated by the increased distance between biomass mate- from 34.9 to 25.5 wt% was recorded. In these conditions, a
rial surface and its centre which makes it difficult to break less increase from 24.5 to 28.5 wt% was recorded for char
biomass bonds and create more product yields (in this case production. This trend which is common in the literature
bio-oil); this increased resistance to heat transfer results is attributed to conditions of fluidisation, vapour residence
in increased formation of char and decrease in the volatile time and characteristics of heat transfer (Madhu et al. 2016).
matter (Mani et al. 2010). From another perspective, a suf- Herein, an increase in the flow rate of sweep gas facilitates
ficiently small particle size facilitates the uniform transfer vigorous movement of biomass particles which results in an
of heat to biomass materials resulting in optimum produc- active transfer of heat energy and the consequent production
tion of bio-oil yield (Koçkar et al. 2000) and high formation of volatile matter. However, this volatile matter production
of non-condensable gaseous components (maximum gas and cracking of intermediates and tar are short-lived due to
yield of 40.03 wt% was obtainable at 0.6 mm (Madhu et al. the short residence time that accompanies flash pyrolysis
2016)). reaction.
The relationship between a decrease in particle size and
an increase in yield of bio-oil and gas is challenged by the Reactor configuration
research of Madhu et al. (2016) and Acikgoz and Kockar
(2007); herein, these authors reported an increase in bio-oil The configuration and design of a reactor influence the
and gas component yield as particle size increased for cot- mechanisms of flash pyrolysis (Amutio et al. 2012b); this
ton shell and linseed flash pyrolysis. An increase in particle is evident through the effect of reactor configuration on
size from 0.6 to 1.25 mm resulted in an increase in bio-oil particle motion and sweep gas flow rate. Due to the vari-
yield from 31.42 to 41.25 wt%. The same trend is reported ability of reactor configuration on flash, fast or slow pyroly-
by Acikgoz and Kockar (2007); in their report, an increase sis as the case may be, different types of designs and con-
in bio-oil yield from 63 to 68.8 wt% was recorded when figurations have been studied in literature. These include
particle size increased from 0.6 to 1.8 mm; in fact, the high- ablative (cyclonic and rotating) (Lédé et al. 2007), auger
est bio-oil yield was recorded when particles are ˃1.8 mm. (Ingram et al. 2008), vacuum (Das et al. 2004), transport
This trend can be attributed to the fact that at particle sizes and circulating fluidised reactor (Oasmaa et al. 2003) and
of 0.6 to 1 mm, heat and mass transfer resistance is not as fluidised reactors (Heo et al. 2010). Amongst these different

13
 J. O. Ighalo et al.

configurations, a conical spouted bed reactor (CSBR) shown is not significant unlike in the case of product composition
in Fig. 4 which is a variation of fluidised reactors has been and characteristics (Amutio et al. 2012b). Also, the allow-
identified to be suitable for flash pyrolysis of biomass (Amu- ance afforded by CSBR configuration ensures variability of
tio et al. 2012b). The components of the unit include (1) sweep gas flow rate which facilitates short residence time
solid feeding device, (2) gas feeding device, (3) pyrolysis and optimum production of bio-oil yields. In addition, CSBR
reactor, (4) a device for retaining the fine particles from the configuration allows for continuous flash pyrolysis process
stream of volatile products, (5) liquid collection section and showings applicability for large scale biomass pyrolysis.
(6) a system for gaseous product analysis. The suitability of Furthermore, the design of CSBR configuration allows
CSBR is based on its ability to facilitate cyclic movement for vacuum condition sustainability (a factor influenced by
of different size of particles and sticky solids with irregular low reactor volume–bed mass ratio (Amutio et al. 2012b)
texture and wide size distribution without segregation and which facilitates limited mass flow rate of sweep gas result-
aggregation challenges. This cyclic particle motion is usually ing in less heating requirements and overall improvement
vigorous resulting in a high rate of heat and mass transfer in the energy efficiency of the flash pyrolysis process. At
and high heat flux consequently enhancing the breakage of this vacuum condition, secondary cracking of product yields
biomass bonds for the production of product yields of inter- to produce non-condensable gaseous components is limited
est; herein, the maximum bio-oil yield of 71 wt% at 400 °C due to fast desorption and removal of products from the
has been reported for flash pyrolysis of biomass using CSBR reaction chamber by the vacuum force; also, limited sec-
(Amutio et al. 2012b). However, it is important to highlight ondary cracking of intermediates results in the formation
some authors’ results show that the effect on bio-oil yield of high-quality char with increases surface area (Darmstadt

Fig. 4  Schematic of the conical spouted bed reactor (CSBR) (Amutio et al. 2012b).

13
Flash pyrolysis of biomass: a review of recent advances

et al. 2001). The design of CSBR also allows for the inte- product of interest (Wang et al. 2006). Due to the varia-
gration of the oxidative pyrolysis process which allows for tion in the chemical configuration of different biomass,
an efficient heating process and potential for overheating the requirement in the type of catalyst to catalyse the
heating. Through this medium, integration of auto thermal pyrolysis process in different biomass would vary (Uzun
heating regime can be implemented in flash pyrolysis with and Sarioğlu 2009). There are two major ways catalysts
its antecedent merits such as less operating cost, integra- may be used during the pyrolysis process. In method one,
tion of energy and improved feasibility of scale-up of the the catalyst could be introduced directly to the biomass
process. Also, the design of CSBR allows for avoidance of before the process kicks off whereas, in method two, a
the hotspots facilitated by non-uniform combustion of the catalyst bed could be connected for the passage of the
reactor bed due to cyclic movement of biomass particles. evolved gases. The two methods were compared by Uzun
This consequently results in a high rate of heat transfer and and Sarioğlu (2009) to catalyse the pyrolysis of corn stalks
isothermal conditions of the bed reactor (Carmo Freitas et al. with the aid of three different catalysts. Findings revealed
2011). The peculiarities of reactor types for biomass pyroly- that the liquid and solid yields were favoured using method
sis are given in Table 3. one than using method two for the three catalysts and the
same biomass under study. In the same vein, oil yield was
Heating rate more for the un-catalysed process than for the catalysed
process. This shows that the presence of catalysts does
The heating rate describes the pace at which the system tem- not necessarily increase the yield of the bio-oil (Uzun
perature rises with time till the peak process temperature is and Sarioğlu 2009). A similar observation was obtained
attained. Heating rate is the basis on which, the pyrolysis by Zhang et al. (2009) where the presence of the catalyst
process was classified into slow, fast and flash pyrolysis. The (HZSM-5 zeolite) increased the yield of water, coke and
effect of the heating rate on the pyrolysis process is generally non-condensable gases and decreased the liquid and char
well understood. Faster heating rates favour the evolution yield for the pyrolysis of Corncob.
of fluid (liquid and gaseous) products compared to the solid
product. Guida and Hannioui (2017) observed a significant
decrease in residual char yield and an increase in the fluid
products with increasing heating rates. More fluid products Properties of flash pyrolysis products
are generated from the primary reactions at higher heating
rates because there is fast depolymerisation of the biomass Flash pyrolysis products can be grouped into three fractions;
(Varma and Mondal 2017). For experimental studies on flash gas, liquid and solid fraction or char (Alvarez et al. 2015;
pyrolysis, the effect of heating rate has not been evaluated by Makibar et al. 2015). The flash pyrolysis product derived
varying the parameter. This is not surprising as the experi- from agricultural waste biomass differs from other biomass.
ments were conducted at a very high flash rate and would Although the differences are visible in the entire product
be difficult to vary within the threshold of < 1 s heating rate. yield, it is most significant in the bio-oil content. The gas
fraction comprises inorganic compounds and small amounts
Catalyst of hydrocarbons, the bio-oil is made up of a complex mix-
ture of oxygenated compounds and water while the solid
To optimise the pyrolysis process, the use of catalysts may fraction (char) is the fraction that cannot be devolatilised
come in handy, especially in the selectivity of the desired (Ighalo et al. 2021).

Table 3  Peculiarities of reactor Reactor type Advantage Disadvantage

types for pyrolysis
Fixed bed Simple and reliable design Long solid residence time
Independent of biomass size Technical difficulty in removing char
Conical spouted bed Ease of operation Smaller particle sizes are needed
No internal temperature gradients There is hydrodynamic complexity
Can achieve high heating rate High operating costs
Vacuum Carrier gas not required Slow process with high residence time
Lower temperature required High operating costs
Independent of biomass size Require large scale equipment
Easier liquid condensation Poor heat and mass transfer rate
Microwave Independent of biomass size High operating costs
Can achieve high heating rate High electrical power consumption
no internal temperature gradients

13
13
Table 4  Comparison of the bio–oil properties from flash pyrolysis
Biomass Temp (°C) Water content Phenols C H N O S H/C Calorific value References
(wt%) (MJ/kg)

Linseed 550 15.2 – 75.5 10.76 3.16 10.80 – 1.72 9.377 Acikgoz and Kockar (2007)
Sewage sludge 500 22.95 – – – 5.0
Pinewood waste 500 35.3 0.14 42.9 8.0 0.2 48.9 – – 15.4 Amutio et al. (2011)
Pinewood sawdust 500 36.7 16.49 41.6 8.1 0.2 50 0.002 – 14.6 Amutio et al. (2012b)
Woody biomass 500 5.8 – 75.5 7.6 – 16.4 – – 36.1 Imran et al. (2014)
H–ZSM5 catalysed biomass 500 55 3.2 47.2 4.9 46.8 – – 20.7 Imran et al. (2016)
Cotton shell 450 18 – 38.14 11.24 0.94 49.57 0.11 3.511 19.32 Madhu et al. (2016)
Populous nigra sawdust 455 22.9 – 37.5 8.1 54.4 – – 17.4 Makibar et al. (2015)
Chlorella vulgaris 800 16.59 2.78 – – – –– – – – Maliutina et al. (2017)
Palm kernel shell 600 31.26 2.18 – – – – – – – Maliutina et al. (2017)
Activated sludge 500 10.3 68.4 8.7 9.8 10.3 2.7 1.53 – Pokorna et al. (2009)
Dewatered digested sludge 500 – 73.4 9.5 8.0 6.7 2.4 1.56 20.3 Pokorna et al. (2009)
Dried activated sludge 500 17.0 58.8 8.8 8.3 20.7 3.4 1.79 – Pokorna et al. (2009)
Wood bark 450 – – 48.82 9.1 0.84 41.01 0.21 2.223 22.7 Sowmya Dhanalakshmi and
Madhu (2021)
Beech wood – 21.40 36.26 – – – 38.40 – – – Stephanidis et al. (2011)
Soybean 9.9 – 60.6 8.4 6.5 24.5 – 1.7 27.5 Urban et al. (2017)
Broom species 500 34.0 12.7 – – – – – – – Amutio et al. (2013)
Acacia dealbata 500 40.0 13.3 – – – – – – – Amutio et al. (2013)
Pterospartum tridentatum 500 39.0 18.8 – – – – – – – Amutio et al. (2013)
J. O. Ighalo et al.
Flash pyrolysis of biomass: a review of recent advances

Bio‑oil properties Phenols yields peak more at lower temperatures (Amutio

et al. 2012b). The major depolymerisation product of the
The flash pyrolysis bio-oil properties are summarised in cellulose is levoglucosan and glucose ring scission prod-
Table 4. As seen in Table 4, pinewood sawdust has a maxi- ucts (hydroxyaldehyde, acetol, furfural, methylglyoxal).
mum oxygen content of 54.4 wt% (Makibar et al. 2015). The main products of hemicellulose pyrolysis are hydroxy-
This high oxygenation is also visible in other raw materials acetone, furfural, formic, acetic and propionic acids. The
from agricultural waste. The calorific value of the high oxy- aqueous phase is composed majorly of acetic acid, acetone,
genated bio-oil can is also high which is good enough for phenols, other aldehydes and ketones and pyrolytic water
bio-oil products from agricultural wastes (Sowmya Dhanal- (Adeniyi et al. 2019). Water is the main compound in the
akshmi and Madhu 2021). It can be observed that the C- forest residue bio-oil, accounting for a concentration in the
and H- content of bio-oil from dewatered digested sludge bio-oil of 34 wt% for Broom species, 40 wt% for Acacia
(Pokorna et al. 2009) is higher than that of other biomass dealbata and 39 wt% for Pterospartum tridentatum. This
from agricultural waste, while the oxygen content is much water yield is a result of the moisture content of the bio-
lower. The decrease in the O-content of the digested sludge mass (around 9–10 wt%) and the hemicellulose and cellulose
can be interpreted as a low concentration of polar function- dehydration reactions.
alities in the bio-oil (Pokorna et al. 2009). High H/C ratio
values indicate a very high content of aliphatic hydrocarbons Char properties
and low amounts of oxygen signify a minor fraction of polar
compounds present in the biomasses (Pokorna et al. 2009). Table 5 summarises the char components of the product
The water content of bio-oil from agricultural waste yield. From the table, sewage sludge (Alvarez et al. 2015),
biomass (H-ZSM5 catalysed biomass contains 55 wt% activated sludge, dewatered digested sludge and dried exces-
and pinewood dust has 35.3 wt%) is slightly higher than sive activated sludge (Pokorna et al. 2009) reportedly has
sludge derived bio-oil. High water content bio-oil inhibits high char fractions compared to others due to the high ash
the proper elemental analysis of the pyrolysis oil (Imran content in the raw materials (Alvarez et al. 2015). Carbon
et al. 2016). Phenols are the most important functional content in the different sludge biomass is also low with very
group formed from the depolymerisation of lignin macro- small calorific values compared to other biomass as seen in
molecules (Amutio et al. 2012b, 2013). The main pyrolysis Table 5. The high ash content coupled with the low calorific
products of lignin part biomass are phenols. The phenolic values makes these char unattractive for energy recovery
part includes phenols, hydroxylphenols, meothoxyphenols, combustion but very suitable char for soil amendment and
dimethoxyphenols. From Table 4, the presence of phenols is long term carbon storage (Alvarez et al. 2015). As observed,
more visible in agriculturally derived bio-oil than in sludge carbon content leads to high calorific values which make
biomass and is significantly high in forest residues (Amutio the char with such features suitable for energy valorisation
et al. 2013). Phenols yield is very high for the three forest once briquetted (Amutio et al. 2013; Makibar et al. 2015).
residues studied, especially for Pterospartum tridentatum. All the solid products in broom species, Acacia dealbata

Table 5  Summary of char properties from flash pyrolysis

Biomass Temp (°C) C H N O S H/C Ash content Calorific References
value (MJ/
kg)

Linseed 550 62.53 1.20 4.88 30.60 – 0.23 – 5.622 Acikgoz and Kockar (2007)
Sewage sludge 500 18.5 1.0 2.7 7.3 1.2 0.6 69.3 5.300 Alvarez et al. (2015)
Pine waste 500 84.5 2.8 0.1 12.6 – – 3.2 28.20 Amutio et al. (2011)
Pinewood sawdust 500 82.7 2.9 0.1 11.4 – – 2.9 30.40 Amutio et al. (2012b)
Populous Nigra sawdust 455 86 – – – – – – – Makibar et al. (2015)
Activated sludge 500 27.5 2.0 4.4 16.4 1.1 0.87 57.9 9.600 Pokorna et al. (2009)
Dewatered digested sludge 500 15.6 1.4 1.7 14.6 1.5 1.08 75.1 5.000 Pokorna et al. (2009)
Dried activated sludge 500 29.2 1.8 4.1 14.4 3.2 0.74 58.1 10.60 Pokorna et al. (2009)
Woody bark 450 41.51 7.30 5.41 45.36 0.42 2.096 6.12 – Sowmya Dhanalakshmi and
Madhu (2021)
Broom species 500 71.0 2.1 1.1 23.4 – – 2.4 24.8 Amutio et al. (2013)
Acacia dealbata 500 76.3 2.2 1.3 15.8 – – 4.3 27.5 Amutio et al. (2013)
Pterospartum tridentatum 500 83.8 2.4 1.0 7.1 – – 5.8 31.2 Amutio et al. (2013)

13
 J. O. Ighalo et al.

and Pterospartum tridentatum (Amutio et al. 2013) have before it is vented, supplying additional energy to the pyroly-
high carbon contents and hence the high calorific values, sis process (Amutio et al. 2013).
especially the char obtained from Pterospartum triden-
tatum. It is remarkable to note that the char obtained from
the broom species has the lowest ash content compared to Future outlook and prospects of flash
other biomass. pyrolysis of biomass

To meet the growing demand for green energy, there will be

Gas properties a need to produce biofuels to assuage the consumption of
renewable energy by the world’s population as much of the
The gas fractions of the pyrolysis product yield are measured global infrastructure is dependent on energy (Li et al. 2013).
in weight percentages and tabulated in Table 6. The yield In the advent of dwindling demand for existing fossil fuel
of the gas fraction of pinewood (majorly made up of CO (as many countries of the world combat climate change),
and ­CO2) increases with temperature as a result of enhanced pyrolysis will be used to produce biofuel to meet the demand
decarboxylation and decarbonylation reactions (Amutio for green energy (Adeniyi et al. 2020). A review of various
et al. 2012b) and while the C ­ O2 concentration in the gas research work points to biomass pyrolysis as a promising
decreases with temperature, that of CO increases. C ­ O2 was and sustainable source of renewable fuels and petrochemi-
the main gas component during the pyrolysis of Chlorella cal substitutes due to their availability (Fahmy et al. 2020).
vulgaris at a low temperature (Maliutina et al. 2017) and In this arena, pyrolysis has come to the fore as a tech-
at high temperatures, CO and H ­ 2 gases are formed (Maliu- nique that provides a route for the direct conversion of many
tina et al. 2017; Sowmya Dhanalakshmi and Madhu 2021). different types of biomass into solid, liquid, and gaseous
The pyrolysis gas can be used as a gaseous fuel (Sowmya products, all of which has potential uses as fuels. A technol-
Dhanalakshmi and Madhu 2021). In the case of the broom ogy that has been around for over 30 years, the exploration
species, Acacia dealbata and Pterospartum tridentatum of flash pyrolysis is but a novel technique in the production
(Amutio et al. 2013), the gas fraction also contained a higher of biofuel (Rogers and Brammer 2012). Currently, there
composition of carbon dioxide and monoxide as in pinewood are pyrolytic reactors that can utilise plant waste (sawdust,
sawdust (Amutio et al. 2012b) and a lower amount of C ­ 1- ­C3 wood, rice husk, coconut shell, coffee husk, bamboo etc.)
hydrocarbons. It is noted that a lower carbon dioxide yield with project cases in China, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Italy
is obtained in the pyrolysis of broom species in comparison and Chile but to mention a few. These reactors are currently
with Acacia dealbata and Pterospartum tridentatum, which being monitored in projects across various countries. It is
led to a gas fraction with a higher calorific value. At an imperative to note that these reactors are still being opti-
industrial scale, the gas fraction obtained in the pyrolysis mised for improved output and best economic performance.
process must be re-circulated to use it as a fluidising agent, Kumar and Nanda (2016) elucidated that flash pyroly-
thus improving the energy efficiency of the process. In addi- sis proved is the best pyrolysis method for the produc-
tion, a small fraction of the gas has to be purged and burnt tion of bio-oils from biomass. Depending on the bio-oils

Table 6  Gas fractions of flash pyrolysis

Biomasses Temp (°C) CO2 (wt%) CO (wt%) H2 (wt%) CH4 (wt%) References

Linseed 550` – – – – Acikgoz and Kockar (2007)

Sewage sludge 500 – – – – Alvarez et al. (2015)
Pine waste 500 5.08 2.49 0.01 0.06 Amutio et al. (2011)
Pinewood sawdust 500 0.347 0.52 0.01 0.1 Amutio et al. (2012b)
Woody biomass 500 14.4 11.8 – – Imran et al. (2014)
H–ZSM5 catalysed biomass 500 0.25 0.425 – 0.325 Imran et al. (2016)
Chlorella vulgaris 800 0.58 0.42 0.43 0.123 Maliutina et al. (2017)
Palm kernel shell 600 0.1323 0.605 0.262 0.7828 Maliutina et al. (2017)
Woody bark 450 8.11 2.99 4.35 1.89 Sowmya Dhanalakshmi and
Madhu (2021)
Broom species 500 1.73 1.75 0.03 0.21 Amutio et al. (2013)
Acacia dealbata 500 2.31 2.00 0.03 0.25 Amutio et al. (2013)
Pterospartum tridentatum 500 1.92 1.76 0.02 0.24 Amutio et al. (2013)

13
Flash pyrolysis of biomass: a review of recent advances

physiochemical properties, they are a potential source for much different for slow and fast pyrolysis. Flash pyrolysis
biofuels production. The production of bio-oil being one oil is characterised by high water content (usually > 15 wt%).
of the key constituents in the production of biofuel will be The oil higher heating value was widely varying between
made faster through the process of flash pyrolysis to meet 15–36 MJ/kg. The future of flash pyrolysis is a promising
the consumption demand and the process costs less. Flash one as it gives higher quality products that served as better
pyrolysis of biomass, therefore, is a viable method for bio- feedstock for other re-refining processes compared to other
fuel production and should be further explored in future pyrolysis process types. Furthermore, flash pyrolysis is faster
researches as bio-fuels are a substitute for fossil-based crude and can handle higher feedstock volumes at similar reac-
oils as flash pyrolysis portends for more bio-based diesel tor volumes and process intricacies. Flash pyrolysis should
production in the least possible time with other derivatives. be auscultated and propagated by researchers in green
There are various trends and emerging technologies energy because its primary product is liquid bio-oil while
of pyrolysis such as microwave pyrolysis, solar pyrolysis, other pyrolysis processes produce more solid and gaseous
plasma pyrolysis, hydrogen pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis of products.
biomass with synthetic polymers and sewage. Amongst all
these, flash pyrolysis should be auscultated and propagated Acknowledgements We acknowledge the researchers in the research
area who have published important papers over time to advance
by researchers in the production process of green energy knowledge.
because its primary product is liquid bio-oil. Other pyrolysis
processes produce more solid and gaseous products while Funding There was no external funding for the study.
flash pyrolysis gives predominantly liquid products (bio-oil)
which can be easily stored and transported. Although there Data Availability The manuscript has no associated dataset.
are a few limitations of the flash pyrolysis process such as
the high oxygen content of biofuels (Adeniyi et al. 2019). Declarations
Flash pyrolysis has been shown to afford high yields of bio-
oils with low resulting water content and conversion efficien- Conflict of interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of
interest.
cies of up to 70 wt%. Further research can be done where
technologies are employed in designing the flash pyroly- Ethical Approval This article does not contain any studies involving
sis process to reduce the oxygen content of the bio-oils to human or animal subjects.
enable a more varied usage. This is so that it can be a vital
source for a wide range of organic compounds and specialty
chemicals. References
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Authors and Affiliations

Joshua O. Ighalo1,2 · Felicitas U. Iwuchukwu1 · Oghenegare E. Eyankware3 · Kingsley O. Iwuozor4 ·

Kristinoba Olotu5 · Omoregie Cyril Bright5 · Chinenye Adaobi Igwegbe1

1 4
Department of Chemical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, Nnamdi
University, P. M. B. 5025, Awka, Nigeria Azikiwe University, P. M. B. 5025, Awka, Nigeria
2 5
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Ilorin, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Benin,
P. M. B. 1515, Ilorin, Nigeria P. M. B. 1154, Benin, Nigeria
3
TegaFej Consulting Services, Rivers State, Port Harcourt,
Nigeria

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