Production of Diesel Range of Liquid Fuel from Natural Rubber (Polyisoprene) using Charred Palm Kernel Shell Fired Reactor

Production of Diesel Range of Liquid Fuel from Natural Rubber (Polyisoprene) using Charred Palm Kernel Shell Fired Reactor* 1 J. R. Dankwah, 2E. Ansah, 1,3J. Dankwah and 1P. C. O. Adu 1 University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa 2 Adamus Resources Limited, Esiama, Ghana 3 Goldfields Ghana Limited, Damang Mine, Abosso-Tarkwa Dankwah, J. R., Ansah, E., Dankwah, J. and Adu, P. C. O. (2021), “Production of Diesel Range of Liquid Fuel from Natural Rubber (Polyisoprene) using Charred Palm Kernel Shell Fired Reactor”, Ghana Journal of Technology, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 82 - 89. Abstract Large amounts of natural rubber (NR) are produced in Ghana and exported out of Country in the raw form, every year, without any value addition. Natural rubber consists predominantly of the polymer cis-1,4-polyisoprene (-C5H8-)n. This work investigated the generation of diesel range of liquid fuel from NR using a charred palm kernel shell fired reactor and a blower assembly in the temperature range of 350 – 450 °C. Samples of NR (collected from rubber plantation farmers in Nsuaem, in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Constituency of the Western Region of Ghana) were cut into crumbs of 1-3 cm and about 2.0 kg of the crumbs were fed from the top of a stainless steel reactor with dimensions 0.45 m diameter and 0.60 m height. About 0.10 kg of locally produced catalyst (JDank3) was added at a time to the reactor system followed by catalytic pyrolysis for 45 min. The catalytically cracked gas was then condensed finally in a plastic container, weighed and characterised by FTIR and GCMS analyses. The results indicate that diesel-range of liquid fuel can be produced from NR, with an average yield of 0.623 and 0.815 litres/kg of NR pyrolysed in the absence and presence of the locally manufactured catalyst, respectively. Results from the analyses by FTIR and GC-MS analyses showed that the liquid fuel consists primarily of paraffins and olefins with minor amounts of naphthenes, alkanols and alkanoic acids. It was concluded that the liquid fuel produced has a high combustion efficiency based on the dominance of paraffins and olefins in the content of the oil. Keywords: Liquid Fuel; Natural Rubber; Pyrolysis; GC-MS Analysis; FTIR Analysis 1 Introduction Large amounts of natural rubber (NR) are produced in and exported out of Ghana in the raw form, every year without any value addition. Natural rubber consists predominantly of the polymer cis-1,4polyisoprene (-C5H8-)n. In the isoprene chain, NR has a –C=C bonding, which makes it difficult to be oxidised (Nahhar and Siong, 2019; Rolere et al., 2015). The rubber from the first opening of a mature tree (Fig. 1) consists of an insoluble solvent fraction (hard-gel) which is formed through carbon-carbon bonding (Nahhar and Siong, 2019; Rolere et al., 2015). Approximately 80-90 percent of the solid rubber is formed by the hard-gel. The residual solvent fraction, which is soluble, has low molecular weight and is formed by oxidative degradation (Nahhar and Siong, 2019; Rolere et al., 2015). The major components and their corresponding composition are shown in Table 1, which shows significant amount of water (~58.5%). Fig. 1 Harvesting of Natural Rubber from Natural Rubber Tree Table 1 Composition of Fresh NR Latex Component Rubber Proteins Lipids* Inorganic constituents Carbohydrates 0.8-1.0 1.6 Water 55-60 58.5 *Lipids include glycolipids and phospholipids The Ghana Rubber Estate Limited (GREL) produces crumb rubber which is processed at its processed plant located at Apemenim in the Western Region of Ghana for export. On the average, GREL exports 24,440 metric tonnes of processed rubber annually to Europe and the United States (Nahhar and Siong, 2019). *Manuscript received October 24, 2020 Revised version accepted March 20, 2021 Content (%) Nahhar and Rolere et al. Siong (2019) (2015) 30-40 38 1.0-1.5 1.4 1.5-3.0 2.2 0.7-0.9 0.5 Natural rubber is an essential raw material used in the creation of more than 40,000 products. It is used in medical devices, surgical gloves, aircraft and car 82 GJT Vol. 5, No. 2, March, 2021 tires, pacifiers, clothes, toys, etc. When these devices get to their end of life time, they must be disposed of in an environmentally sound way. Owing to the huge range of products, large volumes of waste are generated from rubber products. Hazardous medical waste, including surgical gloves, is typically disposed of through incineration, and in most cases with no avenue for value recovery. In this work the potential for producing liquid fuels from natural rubber is investigated with the sole aim of gaining a fundamental understanding of the NR pyrolysis process. 2 Resources and Methods Used Fig 3 Experimental Setup 2.1 Materials 2.2.1 Thermal Degradation (Non-Catalytic Pyrolysis) Dry samples of NR (collected from rubber plantation farmers in Nsuaem, in the TarkwaNsuaem Constituency of the Western Region of Ghana) were washed to remove sand, air-dried and then cut into crumbs of 1-3 cm (Fig. 2). Two sets of experiment were conducted without catalyst. Crumbs of NR were fed into the reactor and the experiment was carried out with the blower regulator set so as to achieve a maximum temperature of about 500 °C, measured by a BENETECH GM900 Infrared Thermometer (Fig. 4). Fig 2 Samples of Pure Crumbs of Natural Rubber utilised for the Investigation Fig. 4 BENETECH GM900 Infrared Thermometer used for Temperature Measurements in this Investigation 2.1.1 Characterisation of Materials The steps involved in the non-catalytic pyrolysis of NR are shown in Fig 5. Part of this sample was characterised by FTIR analyses at the Central Laboratory of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. FTIR spectra were recorded with OPUS 7.0 software on a Bruker Tensor27 spectrometer (Paris, France), using the Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) mode, in the range of 4000400 cm -1 with a resolution of 2 cm-1. Flue Gases Natural Rubber (NR) 2.2 Methods Condenser A Oil Storage Pyrolysis Reactor The experimental setup (Fig. 3) consist of a heating assembly (charred palm kernel fired reactor equipped with an air-blower), custom-made pyrolysis reactor, condensers A and B kept at 42 °C and 30 °C respectively, and a collecting plastic container. Condenser A is a coiled copper tube and condenser B is water in the plastic container. Crumbs of NR (~2.0 kg) were fed into the reactor for each pyrolysis run. Condenser B Fig 5 Reaction Scheme for the Non-Catalytic Pyrolysis of NR 2.2.2 Catalytic Pyrolysis Pulverised sample of a locally produced catalyst (JDank3) was used as catalyst. The catalyst was milled to about 80% passing 125 μm and it accounted for 10% of feedstock weight. The experiments were conducted at a temperature range 83 GJT Vol. 5, No. 2, March, 2021 generally observed at 1288 cm-1 (Rolere et al., 2015). However, in Fig. 7, this peak appears at 1314.49 cm-1 due to interactions between isoprene chains and impurities in NR. of about 350 to 500 °C, based on the thermal degradation temperature of NR (Varkey et al. 2010). The steps involved in the catalytic pyrolysis of NR are shown in Fig 6. Flue Gases Oil Storage Fig 6 Reaction Scheme for the Catalytic Pyrolysis of NR 2.3 Yield of the Fuel Production Process yield of the process (L/kg) was calculated from the volume of clean filtered fuel per weight of NR pyrolysed as shown in equation (1): 2.4 Characterisation of Liquid Fuel Produced and Solid By-Product 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 4000 579.28 526.25 (1) 1040.25 844.44 Volume of fuel ( L) Weight of NR pyrolysed (kg) 0.8 Transmittance Yield = 1 1652.17 1613.41 1452.28 1375.46 Pyrolysis Reactor Condenser B 3339 Condenser A 2963.70 2926.99 2906.59 Natural Rubber (NR) + Catalyst The three characteristic bands of 3600-3200 cm-1, ~1650 cm-1 and 600-300 cm-1 suggest the presence of lattice water in a sample. As shown in Fig. 7, these bands are represented by the prominent peaks 3339 cm-1, 1652.17 cm-1 and 579.28-526.25 cm-1, respectively. It means that, even after drying, the NR retained some of its water, which is expected to be expelled as part of the initial gases that would leave the reactor during the pyrolysis process as temperature increases beyond 100 °C. Natural rubber consists predominantly of the polymer cis1,4-polyisoprene (-C5H8-)n, with the structure shown in Fig. 8. 1521.63 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Wavenumber (cm-1) The liquid fuel produced and the solid byproduct were characterised by FTIR analysis to identify various functional groups present, which can help in determining the types of polymers present in the sample. The liquid fuel was also characterised by GC-MS analysis to detect the various polymers present. Fig 7 FTIR Analysis of NR used for the Investigation 3 Results and Discussion 3.1 Characterisation of Raw Material by FTIR Spectroscopic Analysis FT-IR spectroscopy is a useful tool used to examine the hydrocarbon types or functional groups in the pyrolytic oil derived from waste polymers (Arabiourrutia et al. 2012; Kumar and Singh 2011; Dogan and Kayacan 2011; Islam et al. 2010). The FTIR analysis of dry sample of NR is illustrated in Fig 7. The vibration that belongs to the isoprene functional group is located at 840 cm-1 (Rolere et al., 2015) and this is seen at 844.44 cm -1 in Fig. 7. The vibration peaks that are located between 3000-2800 cm-1 (2963.70, 2926.99 and 2906.59 cm -1) correspond to asymmetric and symmetric stretchings of C=CH, CH2, CH3 groups in NR (Rolere et al., 2015). The vibration peaks that correspond to asymmetric deformation vibrations of CH2 and CH3 groups in NR are located at 1447 and 1377 cm-1 (Rolere et al., 2015). These appear in Fig. 7 at 1452.28 and 1375.46 cm-1, respectively. The characteristic in-plane bending of C=C–H is Fig. 8 Structure of cis-1,4-Polyisoprene The expected bonds from the FTIR spectroscopy based on the structure of the monomer are -C-H, =CC and -C=C for alkenes, as illustrated in Table 3. 3.2 Results of Thermal Degradation (NonCatalytic Pyrolysis) Gas emission commenced almost immediately after placing the reactor assembly on the palm kernel shell fired furnace. This gas was channelled through a copper coil that served as condenser A. Oil started flowing from condenser A to B after 30 min of heating. This continued until after 53.23 min where bubbling of condenser B ceased and no oil flowed from condenser A. The measured yield was 0.630 L/kg. The procedure was repeated with fresh 84 GJT Vol. 5, No. 2, March, 2021 samples (~2.0 kg NR). Oil flow from condenser A to B lasted for 51.4 min. The measured yield decreased slightly to 0.615 L/kg. The oil was later collected and stored in a plastic container (Fig. 8). displayed in Fig. 10. The corresponding peaks data and possible assignments have been assembled in Table 2. From the FTIR of Fig. 10, a weak peak is observed at 3084.05 cm-1 which corresponds to C-H stretch in aromatics. The spectrum of the liquid fraction derived from NR also showed three strong absorption peaks at 2961.67, 2922.9 and 2855.08 cm-1, a medium absorption peak at 1646.05 cm -1, and two medium peaks positioned at 1452.28 and 1376.81 cm-1. Fig 8 Unfiltered Liquid Fuel obtained from the Non-Catalytic Pyrolysis of NR 70 887.28 60 797.53 697.58 542.56 428.34 2961.67 2855.08 80 2922.91 % Transmittance 90 1646.05 1452.28 1376.81 1154.56 991.30 3084.05 100 50 40 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Wavenumber (cm-1) 3.3 Results of Catalytic Pyrolysis Fig 10 FTIR Analysis of Liquid Fuel obtained from Pyrolysis of NR Initially 10% catalyst against 2.0 kg of feedstock was fed into the reactor simultaneously at the same temperature as the thermal pyrolytic process. Liquid oil production commenced after 24 min of heating and continued rapidly until after 40.55 minutes when the reaction ceased. The measured yield was 0.805 L/kg, compared to an average of 0.623 L/kg for non-catalytic pyrolysis. A fresh feed of 2.0 kg was catalytically pyrolysed again with 10% catalyst. The first 22 min into the reaction resulted in the production of oil and the process was complete after 40.3 min. The measured yield increased to 0.825 L/kg. A sample of the fuel produced is shown in Fig. 9. These peaks can be attributed to aliphatic C-H stretching (for CH3 and CH2) (Islam et al. 2010), olefinic C=C stretching, and CH2 bending vibrations (Pavia et al. 2009) and C-H scissoring and bending vibrations of alkanes (Kumar and Singh, 2011), respectively. A strong peak located at 887.28 cm -1 showed olefinic C-H. It is apparent from Fig. 10 that the liquid fuel produced from NR consists of mostly aliphatic and olefinic hydrocarbons, consistent with diesel-range of liquid fuels such as diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel. Table 2 Table 4 Major Absorption Peaks and Assigned Configurations in the FTIR Spectra of the Liquid Fraction Derived from NR Pyrolysis Frequency (cm-1) 3084.05 2961.7 2922.9 2855.1 1646.05 1452.28 1376.81 991.3 887.28 797.53 697.58 Fig 9 Unfiltered Liquid Fuel obtained from the Catalytic Pyrolysis of NR 3.5 3.4 FTIR Analysis of Liquid Fuel Produced from NR Bonds C-H stretch C-H stretch C-H stretch C-H stretch -C=C- stretch C-H bend C-H rock =C-H bend C-H “oop” C-H “oop” C-H “oop” GC/MS Analysis of Produced from NR Functional Group Aromatics Alkanes Alkanes Alkanes Alkenes Alkanes Alkanes Alkenes Aromatics Aromatics Aromatics Liquid Fuel The liquid fuel produced from the pyrolysis of NR was subjected to GC-MS analysis to determine the The liquid fuel derived from NR was characterised by FT-IR spectroscopy. The spectra obtained are 85 GJT Vol. 5, No. 2, March, 2021 of fatty acids and consisting predominantly of Dodecanoic acid, 1,2,3-propanetriyl ester was observed. range of compounds available; the result is shown in Fig. 11 and the compounds list is summarised in Table 3. As indicated in Table 3 the components present in NR derived fuel are mostly aliphatic hydrocarbons (alkane and alkenes) with carbon number C8-C27 along with significant amounts of aromatic hydrocarbons like ethylbenzene, p-xylene, 1-methylethylbenzene, α-methylstyrene and 1,2,4trimethylbenzene. Towards the end of the spectrum, peaks of a compound, typical of transesterification The relative proportion of paraffins, olefins and naphthenes in a liquid fuel is very important as they determine the combustion efficiency of the fuel. High combustion efficiency is often attributed to the content of paraffins and olefins in liquid fuels (Ismail Khan et al. 2015). PROF NR 1 Scan EI+ TIC 1.31e10 100 % 0 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 45.00 50.00 55.00 60.00 Time 65.00 Fig 11 GC-MS Analysis of Liquid Fuel obtained from Pyrolysis of NR Condenser A Table 3 GC-MS Compound List of Liquid Fuel obtained from Pyrolysis of NR Retentio Compound Name Reactor n Time 4.719 2,4-Dimethyl-1-heptene 5.359 Ethylbenzene Heater 5.639 p-xylene Tube 6.429 Delivery 1,3,5,7-Cyclooctatetraene Condenser 6.529B Formula C9H18 C8H10 Blower C8H10 C8H8 Retention Time 20.482 22.332 22.542 22.722 Compound Name Formula 3-Eicosene, (E)1-Tetradecene Tetradecane α-Farnesene Naphthalene, decahydro-4amethyl-1methylene-7-(1methylethenyl)α-Farnesene Spiro[5.5]undec2-ene, 3,7,7trimethyl-11methylene1-Pentadecene Pentadecane Cedrane 1-Nonene, 4,6,8trimethyl- C20H40 C14H28 C14H30 C15H24 2,3,3-Trimethyl-1-hexene C9H18 23.263 7.609 1-methylethylbenzene C9H12 23.903 8.360 1,5-Heptadiene-2,5dimethyl-3-methylene- C10H16 24.103 C10H16 C9H12 C9H10 24.863 25.063 25.473 C10H18O 25.653 C10H18O 27.253 Hexadecene (Cetene) C16H32 C10H18 27.433 Hexadecane C16H34 C10H16 28.614 Benzene, 1,1'-(1,3propanediyl)bis- C15H16 8.810 9.000 9.720 10.110 10.280 10.470 11.000 Limonene Benzene-1,2,4-trimethylα-Methylstyrene 2,6-Octadien-1-ol, 2,7dimethylEthanol, 2-(3,3dimethylcyclohexylidene) cis-2,6-Dimethyl-2,6octadiene 1,5-Heptadiene, 2,5dimethyl-3-methylene- 86 GJT C15H24 C15H24 C15H24 C15H30 C15H32 C16H26 C12H24 Vol. 5, No. 2, March, 2021 Table 3 GC-MS Compound List of Liquid Fuel obtained from Pyrolysis of NR (Cont’d) 11.790 13.150 13.291 Cyclohexene, 3-methyl-6-(1methylethyl)Limonene Cycloheptene, 5-ethylidene1-methylCamphene 1-Octene, 3,7-dimethyl3-Tetradecene, (Z)- 13.561 1-Undecene 13.831 14.711 16.701 16.961 19.612 Undecane 11-Methyldodecanol 1,7-Nonadiene, dimethyl1-Dodecene Dodecane 1-Tridecene 19.842 Tridecane C13H28 60.880 20.022 5-Octadecene, (E)- C18H36 61.320 20.252 1-Octanol, 2-butyl- C12H26O 64.661 11.700 15,461 4,8- 29.524 Cetene C16H32 C10H16 29.684 Heptadecane C17H36 C10H16 31.834 Octadecane C18H38 C10H16 C10H20 C14H28 33.745 33.885 34.245 C19H38 C19H40 C15H24 C11H22 34.605 C11H24 C13H28O 35,105 35.515 1-Nonadecene Nonadecane ç-Elemene (E,E,E)-3,7,11,15Tetramethylhexadec a-1,3,6,10,14pentaene Dibutyl phthalate Geranyl-à-terpinene C11H20 35.825 Eicosane C20H42 C12H24 C12H26 C13H26 37.695 45.917 56.539 Heneicosane Hexacosane Heptacosane Dodecanoic acid, 1,2,3-propanetriyl ester Dodecanoic acid, 1,2,3-propanetriyl ester Dodecanoic acid, 1,2,3-propanetriyl ester C21H44 C26H54 C27H56 C20H32 C16H22O4 C20H32 C39H74O C39H74O C39H74O 2852.33 cm−1, attributed to asymmetric and symmetric −CH2 stretching, respectively. Among the paraffins, the predominant compounds were found to be undecane, dodecane, tridecane, pentadecane, hexadecane, heptadecane, octadecane, nonadecane, eicosane, heneicosane, hexacosane and heptacosane. Out of the naphthenes, major compounds were found to be 1,3,5,7cyclooctatetraene, Naphthalene, decahydro-4amethyl-1-methylene-7-(1-methylethenyl)-, cycloheptene, 5-ethylidene-1-methyl- and 1,1bicyclohexyl, 2-(l-methyl ethyl). The main olefinic compounds included 2,4-dimethyl-l-heptene, 3eicosene (E), 1-dodecene, 1-tridecene, 3hexadecene, 1-tetradecene, 2,3,3-trimethyl-1hexene, 1-tetradecene, 1,5-heptadiene-2,5dimethyl-3-methylene, 1-pentadecene, 1nonadecene and 1-nonene-4,6,8-trimethyl. The liquid fuel produced from NR is therefore expected to have a high combustion efficiency as it is dominated by olefins and paraffins. Fig 12 Solid Char recovered after Non-Catalytic Pyrolysis of NR 1 A dark semifluid-like residue (Fig 12) remained, which solidified after the temperature in the reactor dropped to room temperature. This was also characterised by FTIR-spectroscopy; the spectrum is shown in Fig. 13 and the compound list is summarized in Table 4. NR shows a weak band at 3305 cm−1 and this is attributed to O-H stretching from H2O or phenol groups. In the aliphatic stretching region (3000-2,800 cm−1), distinct peaks are observed at 2952.71-2918.80 cm−1 and 2867.42- 3305.60 Transmittance 0.8 0.6 0.4 1701.65 1637.89 1460.44 1450.24 1280.94 1101.44 962.75 760.81 497.69 11.600 C10H18 2952.71 2918.80 2867.42 11.130 0.2 0 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Wavenumber cm-1 Fig 13 FTIR of Solid Char recovered after NonCatalytic Pyrolysis of NR 87 GJT Vol. 5, No. 2, March, 2021 Several structures of –C=O and C−O−R can be observed in the spectrum, as revealed by the intensity of the peaks in the 1800-1000 cm−1 region. This zone of oxygen-containing functional groups is characterised by a very intense peak at 1701.651637.89 cm−1, which is attributed either to C=O or C=C aromatic ring stretching. The aromatic ring (C=C) stretching that was observed in the raw NR is seen in the charred sample. However, the stretches due to C=O in the charred sample showed a continuous decrease in intensity with temperature during pyrolysis, suggesting a loss of these functional groups at high temperature. These bands changed into single bonds (-C-H and -C-C). (iv) The solid by-product has the potential to function as reductants for metal oxide reduction Acknowledgements Part of the analyses for the investigation was conducted at the Central Laboratory, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. The authors are grateful to the various authorising bodies for the assistance received. References -1 The absorption peaks between 900 and 650 cm correspond to single polycyclic and substituted aromatic groups. These functional groups and their composition have been identified in the pyrolytic derived oil from palm kernel shells in a fixed bed reactor (Ani, 1997, Islam et al., 1999, Williams and Horne, 1995). The solid char recovered after the pyrolysis process is a potential feedstock material for the reduction of metal oxides since it consists predominantly of compounds of C and H. Ani, F. N. (1997), "Characteristics of Pyrolysis Oil and Char from Oil Palm Shells", Developments in Thermochemical Biomass Conversion, Vol. 1, pp. 425-432. Arabiourrutia, M., Elordi, G., Lopez, G., Borsella, E., Bilbao, J., and Olazar, M. (2012), “Characterisation of the Waxes obtained by the Pyrolysis of Polyolefin Plastics in a Conical Spouted Bed Reactor. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, vol. 94, pp. 230-237. Dogan, O. M. and Kayacan, I. (2008), “Pyrolysis of Low and High Density PolyethylenePart II: Analysis of Liquid Products using FTIR and NMR Spectroscopy. Energy Sources, Part A, vol. 30, pp. 392-400. Islam, M. N., Zailani, R. and Ani, F. N. (1999), "Pyrolytic Oil from Fluidised Bed Pyrolysis of Oil Palm Shell and Its Characterisation", Renewable Energy, vol. 17, (1), pp. 73-84. Islam, M. R., Parveen, M., Haniu, H., and Sharker, M. R. (2010), “Innovation in Pyrolysis Technology for Management of Scrap Tyre: a Solution of Energy and Environment”, International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, vol. 1, pp. 89-96. Khan, M. I., Ahmad, I., Khan, H., Ishaq, M., Khan, R., Gul, K. and Ahmad, W. (2015), “Catalytic Performance of Metal Impregnated Carbon (Darco) in Conversion of Polypropylene and High-Density Polyethylene into Useful Products, Fullerenes, Nanotubes and Carbon Nanostructures, vol. 23, No. 7, pp. 627-639 Kumar, S. and Singh, R. K. (2011), “Recovery of Hydrocarbon Liquid from Waste High Density Polyethylene by Thermal Pyrolysis”. Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering, vol. 28, pp. 659-667. Pavia, D. L., Lampman, G. M. and Kriz, G.S. and Vyvyan, J. R. (2009), Introduction to Spectroscopy. 4th ed., New York, Brooks/Cole Publishers, 745 pp. Rolere, S., Liengprayoon, S., Vaysse, L., SainteBeuve, J., Bonfils, F. (2015), “Investigating Natural Rubber Composition with Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy: A Table 4 FTIR Compound List of Solid Char recovered after Pyrolysis of NR Frequency (cm-1) 3305.60 2952.71 2918.80 2867.42 2852.33 1701.65 1637.89 1460.44 1451.24 1261.85 1102.34 968.69 760.81 Bonds O-H stretch C-H stretch C-H stretch C-H stretch C-H stretch -C=O stretch -C=C- stretch CH3 (aliphatic) C-H bend O-H stretch O-H stretch -CH=CH- (trans) C-H oop Functional Group Alcohol/Water Alkanes Alkanes Alkanes Alkanes Aromatic Alkenes Alkanes Alkanes Alcohols Alcohols Aromatics Aromatics 4 Conclusions This work investigated the generation of diesel range of liquid fuel from NR using a charred palm kernel shell fired reactor and a blower assembly in the temperature range of 350 – 450 °C. The liquid fuel produced was then analysed by FTIR and GCMS. From the results it was concluded that: (i) Natural rubber can be pyrolysed to produce liquid fuel (ii) Addition of 10% catalyst resulted in an improvement of the yield from 0.623 L/kg to 0.815 L/kg (iii) The liquid fuel produced from NR consists predominantly of olefins and paraffins with minor amounts of naphthenes 88 GJT Vol. 5, No. 2, March, 2021 Rapid and Non-destructive Method to determine both Protein and Lipid Contents Simultaneously”, Polym Test., vol. 43, pp. 83-93. Varkey, J. T., Augustine, S. and Thomas, S. (2010), “Thermal Degradation of Natural Rubber/Styrene Butadiene Rubber Latex Blends by Thermogravimetric Method”, PolymerPlastics Technology and Engineering, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 415-435. Williams, P. T. and Horne, P. A. (1995), "Analysis of Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Pyrolytic Oil Derived from Biomass", Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, vol. 31, pp. 15-37. Authors J. R. Dankwah is an Associate Professor of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana. He obtained his PhD from the School of Materials Science and Engineering, UNSW-Australia, MSc (Process Metallurgy) from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and BSc (Metallurgical Engineering) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. He is a fellow of the West Africa Institute of Mines, Metallurgy and Petroleum. His research and consultancy works cover iron and steelmaking, high-temperature metallurgical processes, utilisation of waste polymers in liquid fuel production. E. Ansah is a National Service Personnel at Adamus Resources Esiama in the Western Region of Ghana. He obtained his BSc degree in Minerals Engineering from the University of Mines and Technology UMaT), Tarkwa, Ghana. His research interest includes Production of Diesel Range of Liquid Fuel from Natural Rubber (Polyisoprene) using Charred Palm Kernel Shell Fired Reactor. J. Dankwah is a Metallurgist at Goldfields Ghana Limited, Damang Mines. She completed her BSc degree in Chemical Engineering at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. She is currently pursuing her MPhil Degree at the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa. Her research interest includes recycling of post-consumer plastics in the reduction of metal oxides and the production of liquid fuels (diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel). P. C. O. Adu is a PhD candidate at the University of South Australia (UniSA), Australia. He completed his BSc degree in Minerals Engineering at the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa. His current research interest includes flotation, sustainable materials research and technology, high temperature applications and recycling of waste plastics. 89 GJT Vol. 5, No. 2, March, 2021