International Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences IJBAS-IJENS Vol:14 No:04 1 143004-2929- IJBAS-IJENS @ August 2014 IJENS I J E N S Abstract-- Bioenergy is the most important renewable energy option, both at present, as well as in the near- and medium-term future .This study was aimed to determine the effect of pyrolysis temperatures on the pyrolysis product yields and find the optimum temperature of maximum oil yield . Slow pyrolysis of castor seeds were carried out in a semi batch reactor made up of stainless steel at temperature range from 400 °C to 600 at 20 °C/min of heating rate. The elemental analysis and calorific value of the bio-oil were determined.The functional groups and chemical compound present in the bio-oil obtained at optimum conditions were identified by Fourier Transform- Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS) analysis respectively.The maximum bio oil yield of 62.45% was obtained at an optimum pyrolysis temperature of 550°C. The calorific values of bio-oil was 36.5 MJ/kg.The chemical characterisation results showed that the bio-oil obtained from castor seeds could be used as a substitute for fuel and utilized as feedstock for chemical or material industries Index Term— Castor seeds, slow pyrolysis and bio-oil. I. INTRODUCTION Renewable energy gained a growing interest recently because of the significant environmental problems such as global climate changes, pollution and reduction of availability of fossil energy resources. In this context, biomass has become a renewable resource with high potential for energy production [1]. Biomass is however becoming a more and more attractive fuel also in the industrialised countries because it is a renewable energy source and it is CO 2 neutral [2,3]. Pyrolysis is one of the most recent renewable energy processes, has been introduced and offers the advantages of a liquid product – bio-oil – that can be readily stored and transported, and used as a fuel, an energy carrier and a source of chemicals. Bio-oils have been success fully tested in engines, turbines and boilers, and have been up graded to high quality hydro carbon fuels although at a presently unacceptable energetic and financial cost [4]. Slow pyrolysis is often related to the production of charcoal while fast pyrolysis was related with production of bio-oil. Slow pyrolysis of biomass will produce high content of charcoal [5]. Yorgun et al. studied slow pyrolysis of sunflower - extracted bagasse which has been conducted under different pyrolysis conditions in order to investigate the optimum pyrolysis parameters given maximum oil yield in a fixed -bed reactor. The maximum oil yield of 23% was obtained at a final pyrolysis temperature of 550°C with particle size of 0.425-0.850 mm, with a heating rate of 7 °C min -1 and nitrogen flow rate of 100 cm 3 min -1 [6].The pyrolysis of oil palm Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) was investigated by Sukiran et al. using quartz fluidized fixed-bed reactor. The effects of pyrolysis temperatures, particle sizes and heating rates on the yield of the products were investigated. The temperature of pyrolysis and heating rate were varied in the range 300–700°C and 10–100°C /min respectively. The particle size was varied in the range <90, 91–106, 107–125 and 126–250 lm. The result shows that the maximum bio-oil yield was 42.28% obtained at 500°C, with a heating rate of 100°C /min and particle size of 91–106 lm [7]. Yorgun et al. Studied fast pyrolysis performed on sunflower press cake in a tubular transport reactor. The effect of final temperature, nitrogen flow rate and particle size on the yields of the pyrolysis products were investigated. The maximum oil yield of 45-wt % was obtained at the pyrolysis temperature of 550 °C, with sweep gas flow rate of 300cm 3 min -1 and particle size of 0.425-0.850 mm [8]. Rapeseed Pyrolysis were performed by Onay et al. in a free fall reactor at atmospheric pressure under nitrogen atmosphere to investigate the effect of final pyrolysis temperature, particle size and sweep gas flow rate on the yields of products and resulted that the maximum pyrolysis conversion of 87.8% at a temperature of 700°C . The maximum bio-oil yield of 75% was obtained at a final pyrolysis temperature of 600°C , particle size range of 0.224– 0.6 mm and the sweep gas flow rate of 100 cm 3 /min [9]. Acikgoz et al. carried out flash pyrolysis experiments on Linseed in a tubular transport reactor. The effects of final temperature and particle size on the yields of the pyrolysis products were investigated. The highest liquid yield of 68.8% was obtained at a final pyrolysis temperature of 550 °C with a particle size of >1.8 mm, and nitrogen flow rate of 100cm 3 min -1 [10].The most important constituent of the castor oil seed is ricinoleic acid, CH 3 (CH 2 ) 5 CH (OH) CH 2 CH=CH (CH 2 ) 7 COOH (80.5%). Other acid constituents of the seeds are linoleic acid (4.2%) oleic acid (3.0%), palmitic acid (1.0%),stearic acid (1.0%),9,10 dihydroxystearic acid (0.7%), ecosanoic acid (0.3%) and linolenic acid (0.3%). In general, the oil from the seeds has good stability under storage conditions [11, 12]. Bio-oil from Pyrolysis of Castor Seeds T. Hassan Mohammed , Rajae Lakhmiri., Amina Azmani Laboratory of Chemical engineering and valorization of resources, faculty of Science and Tecnology.University of Abdelmalik Essaadi Tanger Tetouan Correosponding auther E- mail: taiseerhassan@yahoo.com