Holistic approach for sequential transesterification and pyrolysis of microalgal biomass: Kinetic and thermodynamic analysis of pyrolysis using model-free and model-based approaches

Bhawana Bharti, Saurav Kandpal, Ashish N. Sawarkar and Dipesh S. Patle

Renewable Energy, 2024, vol. 235, issue C

Abstract: Due to the renewability and sustainability, biofuels derived from algae are considered as competitive substitutes for fossil fuels. Present study investigated a holistic approach for sequential transesterification and pyrolysis of microalgal biomass, i.e. Chlorella minutissima. This study explores the complete utilization of algal biomass through sequential chemical (transesterification) and thermochemical (pyrolysis) processes. First, the lipids were extracted and converted to eco-friendly biodiesel using catalytic route. Then lipid-extracted microalgae were pyrolyzed via thermogravimetric analyzer at four heating rates, namely 5, 10, 20 and 30 °C/min. The model-free isoconversional Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS), Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO), and Vyazovkin models were used to analyze the kinetics and thermodynamics of algal pyrolysis. The activation energy obtained for the pyrolysis of Chlorella minutissima utilizing KAS, FWO and Vyazovkin were 146.78, 148.86, 147.11 kJ/mol, respectively. Positive ΔH values from KAS, FWO, and Vyazovkin show an endothermic nature of the process. The mean ΔH was found to be 142.81, 143.97, and 142.82 kJ/mol, while the ΔG was 151.9, 152.20, and 161.40 kJ/mol, respectively for KAS, FWO, and Vyazovkin approaches, at 10 °C/min heating rate. Importantly, this study also revealed that the phase interfacial model was the most appropriate model to represent the degradation process using Coats-Redfern method at 5 oC

Keywords: Microalgae; Transesterification; Pyrolysis; Thermogravimetric analysis; Kinetics; Thermodynamics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148124013879
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:235:y:2024:i:c:s0960148124013879

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.121319

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides

More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().