Thermogravimetric analysis and kinetic modeling for empty fruit bunch date palm pyrolysis

Abstract

This study presents a comparative analysis of different kinetic models applied to the thermochemical pyrolysis of palm empty fruit bunch (PEFB). The kinetic parameters, particularly the activation energy, are determined through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of samples that underwent heating rates ranging from 10 to 50 ◦C/min. Image analysis of PEFB in a hot-stage microscope reveals an intriguing correlation between the observed shrinkage and the conversion rate (α) and indicates that significant physical and chemical transformations occurred within α between 0.2 and 0.8. The experimental data from TGA demonstrates good alignment with four distinct kinetic models. The Coast-Redfern model gives activation energies ranging from 60 to 134 kJ/mol for α between 0.2 and 0.8. In contrast, the Kissinger model and the isoconversion models, Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose and Ozawa-Flyn-Wall, show higher activation energy of 151, 156, and 157 kJ/mol, respectively. The findings underscore the significant impact of the selected kinetic model on determining kinetic parameters.