Annals of the Assembly for International Heat Transfer Conference 13

ISBN 1-56700-225-0 / CD 1-56700-226-9

Year 2006

S. Hirunpraditkoon
King Mongkut's Institute of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand

Since biomass has become an important resource for bioenergy, its thermophysical and thermochemical conversions to synthesised products and alternative fuels have been attracting more interest. Decomposition by pyrolysis inside an incinerator is a good method to generate biogas for electricity and boiler. Thermogravimetric analysis is normally used to carry out thermal decomposition experiments of solid materials. In the present work, thermal degradation of sunflower shell was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis with non-isothermal modes. Four different heating rates, namely, 5, 10, 15 and 20 °C min⁻¹, were used to study changes in the decomposition process. Mass loss histories of the samples were determined. A good model of the pyrolysis was obtained by using of three independent irreversible reactions, corresponding to three pseudocomponents linked to hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. The weight loss, the rate of weight loss and degree of conversion associated with the pyrolysis process were simulated simultaneously in order to obtain the kinetic parameters (activation energy, pre-exponential factor and reaction order). The results from the kinetic model are in excellent agreement with data obtained experimentally.

BHT-06 pages DOI: 10.1615/IHTC13.p29.60 Download article

Article price - $35.00

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