Pyrolytic Pathway of Wheat Straw Pellet by the Thermogravimetric Analyzer

Bidhan Nath (), Les Bowtell (), Guangnan Chen, Elizabeth Graham and Thong Nguyen-Huy
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Bidhan Nath: School of Agriculture and Environmental Science, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
Les Bowtell: School of Engineering, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
Guangnan Chen: School of Agriculture and Environmental Science, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
Elizabeth Graham: Physical and Mechanical Properties Laboratory, Central Analytical Research Facility, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia
Thong Nguyen-Huy: Centre for Applied Climate Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-21

Abstract: The study of the thermokinetics of two types of wheat straw pellets, T 1 (100% wheat straw) and T 2 (70% wheat straw, 10% each of bentonite clay, sawdust, and biochar), under a nitrogen atmosphere (31–800 °C and 5, 10, and 20 °C/min heating rates) using model-free and model-based approaches by TG/DTG data, revealed promising results. While model-free methods were not suitable, model-based reactions, particularly F n (nth-order phase interfacial) and F2 (second-order) models, effectively described the three-phase consecutive thermal degradation pathway (A→B, C→D, and D→E). The activation energy ( E α ) for phases 2 and 3 ( F n model) averaged 136.04 and 358.11 kJ/mol for T 1 and 132.86 and 227.10 kJ/mol for T 2 , respectively. The pre-exponential factor ( lnA ) varied across heating rates and pellets (T 2 : 38.244–2.9 × 10 9 1/s; T 1 : 1.2 × 10 2 –5.45 × 10 14 1/s). Notably, pellets with additives (T 2 ) exhibited a higher degradable fraction due to lower Eα. These findings suggest a promising potential for utilizing wheat straw pellet biomass as a bioenergy feedstock, highlighting the practical implications of this research.

Keywords: activation energy; model-based method; pre-exponential factor; pyrolysis; thermokinetics; wheat straw pellet (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: 2024
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