Tg-ftir analysis of pine sawdust pyrolytic kinetics

The pyrolysis of certain pine sawdust was studied by thermogravimetric analyzer coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TG-FTIR). Different heating rates were applied to a final temperature of 950 0°C. Total loss weights of 78%, 79% and 83% at heating rates of 20 °C/min, 40 °C/min and 80 °C/min, respectively, were observed, and the temperature trend of evolving gaseous products, such as CH4, H2O, CO and CO2, was investigated. The plot of the thermal decomposition rate curve leads to kinetic parameters, which were calculated by Kissinger's and Ozawa's methods; the activation energy of the substrate was of 130.14 and 133.21 kJ-mol-1, respectively, and the frequency factor, of 2.594×1011 and 3.143×1011 min-1. The results show that the above-mentioned methods successfully represent decompositon curves and fit the experimental data very well. Therefore, this study provides a simple way to evaluate the pyrolytic rate of biomass in a real combustor.