A highly automated and instrumented fast pyrolysis pilot plant has been used to process meat and bone meal residues and to operate within a wide range of temperatures (450-600 掳C). This is the first study dealing with the pyrolysis of pure meat and bone meal at various operating conditions continuously fed into a laboratory-scale fluidized bed reactor. All liquid and solid products have been analyzed (yields, HHV, GC-MS, elemental analysis, and ash mineral analysis). The homogenous bio-oil produced is an attractive fuel with a significant high heating value (HHV) of 31.5 MJ/kg and an average liquid yield of 43 wt%at 550 掳C. The highest water-free HHV (36.7 MJ/kg) was found at 500 掳C, with a liquid yield of 35 wt%at this temperature. The optimized pyrolysis temperature, at which the heat from the gas combustion can provide the heat required for processing MBM, while maximizing the bio-oil liquid yield and process energy yield, is 550 掳C. Under these conditions, the pyrolysis process energy yield is 91%.
The study also demonstrates a new technique to accurately determine the heat of pyrolysis reaction energy required by the process, using a non-invasive water calibration method.