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Abstract
Energy application in the world is in ever increasing demand with majority of the energy supply coming from non-renewable resources. Energy is needed for the transportation of man and his goods and services. Transport fuels are sourced mostly from fossils which are depleting and have its other attendant challenges. There is need for an energy source that is both renewable and sustainable. Rice husk, an agro waste is a lignocellulosic material that can be converted to fuels and a precursor chemical feedstock. This study provides information on the physical and thermochemical properties of rice husk. It also provides the necessary parameters of the pyrolysis- a thermochemical conversion process of rice husks biomass to bio-oil and subsequently its tranesterification to biodiesel. Ordinarily treated and torrefied rice husk biomass were made to undergo pyrolysis at temperatures ranging from 540°C to 800°C at which bio-oil starting yielding establishing that torrefaction is an important pretreatment. Also recorded is a favourable ph of 6.8 which denoted that the bio-oil will be infrastructurecompatible. The bio-oil on transesterification with methanol at 60°C yielded biodiesel with higher heating value of 18.4MJ/kg for the ordinarily treated rice husk feedstock and 21.3MJ/kg for the torrefied rice husk feedstock. The calculated cetane number of the biodiesel was 52.32 for the ordinarily treated rice husk and 58.17 for the torrefied rice husk, a value deduced from the thermal properties of the biodiesel produced. Inculcating biomass derived fuels into the overall energy mix is an economic, cost effective and environmentally friendly venture. Key Words: Oryza sativa husk, pyrolysis, biodiesel, valorization, bio-oil