Short Communication Pyrolysis of sal seed to liquid product V.K. Singh a,1 , A.B. Soni a,2 , Sachin Kumar b,⇑ , R.K. Singh c,3 a National Institute of Technology Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India b Central University of Jharkhand Ranchi, Jharkhand, India c National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Orissa, India highlights  This paper highlights the chemical recycling of sal seed by thermal pyrolysis.  Utilization of non-edible oilseeds.  Production of the liquid fuels from biomass.  The results of thermal pyrolysis of different seeds carried out by different researchers.  Suitability of liquid product obtained after thermal pyrolysis of sal seed as an alternate fuel. article info Article history: Received 21 September 2013 Received in revised form 25 October 2013 Accepted 28 October 2013 Available online 5 November 2013 Keywords: Pyrolysis Sal seed Bio-fuel FTIR GC–MS abstract Thermal pyrolysis of sal seed (Shorea Robusta) was carried out in a semi-batch reactor at a temperature range of 400–625 °C and at a heating rate of 20 °C/min. The FTIR analysis of bio-fuel indicates the pres- ence of functional groups such as alkanes, alkenes, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, and esters. The composition of the liquid product was analyzed using GC–MS and found the presence of hydrocarbons between 6 and 20 carbon atoms in a chain. The physical properties of the obtained liquid were close to that of petroleum fractions. The pyrolysis char can be used as an adsorbent as well as a solid fuel due to its high calorific value. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Biomass can be used as raw material for pyrolysis to generate liquid, gaseous, and solid fuels. Biomass, as a raw material, is a nearly universal feedstock due to its domestic availability and renewability. Pyrolysis conversion technology for biomass has been investigated over the last three decades and is used commer- cially (Bridgwater et al., 2002). Pyrolysis produces gas, vapour that can be collected as liquid and solid char. The yields of each of these products depend on process conditions. Liquid fuels are far more versatile than solid fuels due to their high energy density and ease of shipping and distribution, and are utilized in a far wider range of applications, including transportation, domestic heating, electricity generation, and potentially, as a hydrogen carrier. Solid char has a good gross calorific value (GCV) of 17–36 MJ/kg (Jung et al., 2008) and may be used to provide heat for pyrolysis process itself. Solid char can also be used as a fuel either directly as briquettes or as char-oil or char-water slurries or it can be used as feedstocks to prepare activated carbon. There are a number of waste and bio- mass sources being considered as potential sources of bio-fuels and valuable chemical feedstocks. Oilseeds can also be a source of renewable biomass. India has a potential of collecting 5 million tonnes of tree-borne oilseeds (TBO) of which only 0.1–1 million tonnes are being collected presently (Sinha et al., 2013a). In addition to the existing potential of TBO, there is about 60 million hectares of wasteland of which 30 million hectares can be suitably utilized for growing plantations of biofuel plants like Jatropha etc. Sal seed can also be used as a source of biomass for bio-fuels production. The estimated potential availability of sal 0960-8524/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.10.087 ⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Centre for Energy Engineering, Central Univer- sity of Jharkhand (Ranchi), Jharkhand 835205, India. Tel.: +91 6612462260, mobile: +91 8895530406. E-mail addresses: vksingh.che@nitrr.ac.in (V.K. Singh), absoni.che@nitrr.ac.in (A.B. Soni), sachin.kumar.01@cuj.ac.in (S. Kumar), rksingh@nitrkl.ac.in (R.K. Singh). 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) 492001, India. Mobile: +91 9893791121. 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) 492001, India. Mobile: +91 9617776363. 3 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela (Orissa) 769008, India. Tel.: +91 661 2462260 (O), +91 661 2463260 (R), mobile: +91 9861285425. Bioresource Technology 151 (2014) 432–435 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Bioresource Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech