Characterization of top phase oil obtained from co-pyrolysis of sewage sludge and poplar sawdust

To research the impact of adding sawdust on top phase oil, a sewage sludge and poplar sawdust co-pyrolysis experiment was performed in a fixed bed. Gas chromatography (GC)/mass spectrometry (MS) was used to analyze the component distribution of top phase oil. Higher heating value, viscosity, water content, and pH of the top phase oil product were determined. The highest top phase oil yield (5.13 wt%) was obtained from the mixture containing 15 % poplar sawdust, while the highest oil yield (16.51 wt%) was obtained from 20 % poplar sawdust. Top phase oil collected from the 15 % mixture also has the largest amount of aliphatics and the highest higher heating value (28.6 MJ/kg). Possible reaction pathways were proposed to explain the increase in the types of phenols present in the top phase oil as the proportion of poplar sawdust used in the mixture increased. It can be concluded that synergetic reactions occurred during co-pyrolysis of sewage sludge and poplar sawdust. The results indicate that the high ash content of the sewage sludge may be responsible for the characteristic change in the top phase oil obtained from the mixtures containing different proportions of sewage sludge and poplar sawdust. Consequently, co-pyrolysis of the mixture containing 15 % poplar sawdust can increase the yield and the higher heating value of top phase oil.