Pyrolysis studies on conventional biomass were carried out in fixed bed reactor at different temperatures 300, 350, 400 and 450 degrees C. Agricultural residues such as corn cob, wheat straw, rice straw and rice husk showed that the optimum temperatures for these residues are 450, 400, 400 and 450 degrees C respectively. The maximum bio-oil yield in case of corn cob, wheat straw, rice straw and rice husk are 47.3, 36.7, 28.4 and 38.1 wt% respectively. The effects of pyrolysis temperature and biomass type on the yield and composition of pyrolysis products were investigated. All bio-oils contents were mainly composed of oxygenated hydrocarbons. The higher area percentages of phenolic compounds were observed in the corn cob bio-oil than other bio-oils. From FT-IR and H-1 NMR spectra showed a high percentage of aliphatic functional groups for all bio-oils and distribution of products is different due to differences in the composition of agricultural biomass. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.