Optimisation and characterisation of bio-oil produced by Acacia mangium Willd wood pyrolysis

The aim of this research was to characterise the bio-oil produced by pyrolysis of Acacia mangium wood through gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Experimental study was employed using two experiment models: two-level factorial design (TLFD) and response surface methodology–Box–Behnken (RSM–BB). TLFD was used to analyse the final temperature, heating rate and particle size effect on the bio-oil yield, while RSM–BB was conducted to determine the optimum conditions for bio-oil production. The statistical analysis showed that the factors of pyrolysis temperature and particle size had the greater effect, while the heating rate was significant, but had a lesser effect. By utilising RSM, these factors presented the optimal conditions obtained at pyrolysis temperature of 499.57 °C, heating rate of 12 °C min⁻¹ and particle size of 0.46 mm. With the GC–MS result, it was observed that the percentage of phenol and derivatives was much higher than the rest of the components.