Influence of Operating Conditions on the Thermal Behavior and Kinetics of Pine Wood Particles Using Thermogravimetric Analysis

Lelis Gonzaga Fraga, João Silva, Senhorinha Teixeira, Delfim Soares, Manuel Ferreira and José Teixeira
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Lelis Gonzaga Fraga: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Science and Technology, Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e, Díli PO.Box 317, Timor-Leste
João Silva: MEtRICs Research Centre, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Senhorinha Teixeira: ALGORITMI Research Centre, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Delfim Soares: CMEMS Research Centre, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Manuel Ferreira: MEtRICs Research Centre, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
José Teixeira: MEtRICs Research Centre, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-22

Abstract: Although there are many studies available in literature about biomass pyrolysis or devolatilization using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), the effects of important operating parameters have infrequently been investigated for pine wood particle combustion. Consequently, the present study investigates the influence of particle size (63 µm to 1 mm), heating rate (5 to 243 °C/min), and air flow rate (10 to 150 mL/min) on the mass loss of pine wood using TGA. Additionally, the kinetic parameters considering the different conditions were determined to be incorporated in a numerical model. The effect of the heating rate on the thermal decomposition behavior has shown that the thermogravimetric and derivative thermogravimetric curves were shifted to higher temperatures with the increase in the heating rate. In this way, the heating rate affects the temperature at which the highest mass loss rate occurs as well as its value. Furthermore, comparing the higher and lower heating rate, the time to complete the combustion and the release are around 22 times higher when a higher heating rate is applied. On the other hand, the effects of four different air flow rates were compared and similar results were obtained. Regarding the kinetic analysis, it was verified at various heating and air flow rates with different particle sizes that the highest activation energy was mostly obtained during char combustion (~131–229 kJ/mol). Furthermore, in the second stage higher heating rates had the highest reactivity, and in the third stage there were not too many changes. In terms of the effect of air flow rates, a maximum variation of 15 kJ/mol was obtained in the third stage and, therefore, no significant effect on the reactivity for all particles was found.

Keywords: pine wood; thermogravimetric analysis; heating rate; air flow rate; kinetics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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