Bio-oil production from rice husk fast pyrolysis in a conical spouted bed reactor

[Display omitted] •The CSBR is suitable for fast pyrolysis of rice husk obtaining high bio-oil yields.•The maximum bio-oil yield (70wt.%) is achieved at 450°C, with low gas yield (4wt.%).•The bio-oil is a mixture of oxygenated compounds with interesting applications.•The char is of good quality for the production of active carbon and amorphous silica. The fast pyrolysis of rice husk has been performed in the 400–600°C range in a continuous pyrolysis bench-scale plant equipped with a conical spouted bed reactor (CSBR) with continuous removal of the char. In this paper it is studied the influence of temperature on product yields and products composition (gas, bio-oil and char) as well as the effect over the char properties. Bio-oil yield is very high (70wt.% at 450°C) due to the high capacity of mass and heat transfer as well as the reduced residence time of the CSBR. Moreover, bio-oil yield decreases slightly with temperature owing to the increase of gas yield, which is very low in the whole range of temperature studied. These results evidence the suitability of CSBR for the fast pyrolysis of rice husk, with the aim of obtaining bio-oil and char. The char can be upgraded by obtaining amorphous silica and activated carbon.