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In this work, the seeds of açaí (Euterpe oleracea, Mart), a rich lignin-cellulose residue, has been submitted to pyrolysis to produce a bio-oil-like fossil fuels. The pyrolysis carried out in a reactor of 143 L, 450°C, and 1.0 atm. The morphology of Açaí seeds in nature and after pyrolysis is characterized by SEM, EDX, and XRD. The experiments show that bio-oil, gas, and coke yields were 4.38, 30.56, and 35.67% (wt.), respectively. The bio-oil characterized by AOCS, ASTM, and ABNT/NBR methods for density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value. The bio-oil density, viscosity, and acid value were 1.0468 g/cm 3 , 68.34 mm 2 /s, and 70.26 KOH/g, respectively. The chemical composition and chemical functions of bio-oil are determined by GC-MS and FT-IR. The GC-MS identified in bio-oil 21.52% (wt.) hydrocarbons and 78.48% (wt.) oxygenates (4.06% esters, 8.52% carboxylic acids, 3.53% ketones, 35.16% phenols, 20.52% cresols, 5.75% furans, and 0.91% (wt.) aldehydes), making it possible to apply fractional distillation to obtain fossil fuel-like fractions rich in hydrocarbons. The distillation of bio-oil is carried out in a laboratory-scale column, according to the boiling temperature of fossil fuels. The distillation of bio-oil yielded fossil fuel-like fractions (gasoline, kerosene, and light diesel) of 4.70, 28.21, and 22.35% (wt.), respectively.

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In this work, a techno-economic assessment of the production of bio-oil, coke and gas, via thermo-catalytic pyrolysis followed by distillation, is accomplished. The raw materials were two solid wastes: lipid-based material (residual fat/scum from a fat retention box from the University Restaurant at the Federal University of Pará—UFPA) and a lignin-cellulosic material of açaí seed (Euterpe oleracea Mart.). From the literature, a review is made of the physicochemical analysis of the raw materials, of the bio-oil, and of the chemical composition of the biofuels produced (kerosene, light diesel, and heavy diesel). The bio-oil yields for each experiment of pyrolysis and distillation are also presented and compared with the literature. The economic indicators for the evaluation of the most viable cracking (pyrolysis) and distillation process of bio-oils were: (a) the simple payback criterion, (b) discounted payback, (c) net present value (NPV), (d) internal rate of return (IRR), and (e) index of profitability (IP). The analysis of the indicators showed the economic viability of the lipid-based material and unfeasibility for the açai seed (Euterpe oleracea Mart.). The breakeven point obtained was 1.28 USD/L and the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) obtained in this work for the biofuels was 1.34 USD/L). The sensibility analysis demonstrated that the pyrolysis and distillation yields are the most important variables to affect the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP).

This work aims to investigate the influence of temperature and chemical impregnation in the textural and morphological composition of the bio-adsorbent of bio-adsorption via thermal cracking of the seeds of açaí. The experiments were carried out at 400 °C and 450 °C using a pilot scale reactor. The efficiency of the organic process was calculated in terms of liquid and solid products selected with a chemical impregnation process with NaOH, mainly with the liquid that had a greater product conversion. The elementary samples of the solid products occur with the occurrence of carbonization with an increase in the temperature of the process and the presence of impregnation. The textural and morphological characterization occurred with an analysis of FT-IR, SEM/EDS, XRF, and B.E.T. The in-phase product was developed through the creation of açaí seed in nature and impregnated with NaOH solution (2 M) at temperatures of 400 °C and 450 °C. The adsorption kinetics of acetic acid were investigated at 5, 10, 15, 20, 60, 120, and 180 s. The adsorption is higher at 450 °C and with the chemical impregnation of NaOH since the experiments were able to remove an amount of 317.51 mg acid/g adsorbent acetic acid. All the models analyzed fit the experiments, both for the kinetic models (pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order) and for the equilibrium models (Langmuir and Freundlich).

This work investigated the influence of the reaction time and catalyst-to-residual fat ratio by catalytic upgrading from pyrolysis vapors of residual fat at 400 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, on the yields of reaction products, physicochemical properties (density, kinematic viscosity, and acid value) and chemical composition of bio-oils, over a catalyst fixed-bed reactor of activated carbon pellets impregnated with 10.0 M NaOH, in semi-pilot scale. The experiments were carried out at 400 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, using a process schema consisting of a thermal cracking reactor of 2.0 L coupled to a catalyst fixed-bed reactor of 53 mL, without catalyst and using 5.0%, 7.5%, and 10.0% (wt.) activated carbon pellets impregnated with 10.0 M NaOH, in batch mode. Results show yields of bio-oil decreasing with increasing catalyst-to-tallow ratio. The GC-MS of liquid reaction products identified the presence of hydrocarbons (alkanes, alkenes, ring-containing alkanes, ring-containing alkenes, and aromatics) and oxygenates (carboxylic acids, ketones, esters, alcohols, and aldehydes). For all the pyrolysis and catalytic cracking experiments, the hydrocarbon selectivity in bio-oil increases with increasing reaction time, while those of oxygenates decrease, reaching concentrations of hydrocarbons up to 95.35% (area).

The residual peels of andiroba seeds were submitted to alkaline pretreatment that aimed to maximize the recovery of fermented sugar. Evaluation of the best operation performance via the reaction time variables (20, 60, and 100 min), NaOH concentration (2, 3, and 4% (m/v)), and temperature (60, 90, and 120 °C) at a fixed solids concentration of 5% (m/v) was performed. A Box-Behnken experimental design was used. Lignocellulosic material was characterized by cellulose (30.57 ± 1.00%), hemicellulose (15.08 ± 0.65%), lignin (36.02 ± 1.05%), extractives (7.49 ± 0.03%), and ash (1.53 ± 0.28%). The optimization was performed using the response surface methodology approach. The model provided a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.95. The predicted optimal conditions for the process were a reaction time of 100 min, NaOH concentration of 4% (m/v), and temperature of 120 °C, which allowed the authors to obtain a saccharification of approximately 47.9%.

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