Co-pyrolysis of sunflower-oil cake with potassium carbonate and zinc oxide using plasma torch to produce bio-fuels

► Co-pyrolysis of sunflower-oil cake with potassium carbonate and zinc oxide were demonstrated to be beneficial. ► Bio-fuel rich in CO was produced using potassium carbonate-assisted co-pyrolysis. ► The addition of zinc oxide enhanced the production of hydrogen-rich bio-fuel. ► The use of plasma torch prevented the formation of tar, yielding high quality bio-fuels. ► The inorganic part of biomass was converted into non-hazardous and non-leachable vitrified lava by plasma torch. This study examined the effects of additives of potassium carbonate (K2CO3) and zinc oxide (ZnO) on the pyrolysis of waste sunflower-oil cake using a 60kW pilot-scale plasma torch reactor. The major gaseous products were CO and H2. The productions of CO and CH4 increased while that of H2 decreased with the addition of K2CO3. The use of ZnO reduced while enhanced the formation of CO and H2, respectively. In order to match the appeal of resource reutilization, one can use the waste K2CO3 resulted from the sorption of CO2 with KOH in greenhouse gas control and the waste ZnO obtained from the melting process as additives for the co-pyrolysis of sunflower-oil cake, yielding fuels rich in CO and H2, respectively.