Kinetics modeling, thermodynamics and thermal performance assessments of pyrolytic decomposition of Moringa oleifera husk and Delonix regia pod

Ayokunle O Balogun; Adekunle A Adeleke; Peter P Ikubanni; Samuel O Adegoke; Abdulbaset M Alayat; Armando G McDonald

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-93407-1

Kinetics modeling, thermodynamics and thermal performance assessments of pyrolytic decomposition of Moringa oleifera husk and Delonix regia pod

Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 5;11(1):13862. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-93407-1.

Authors

Ayokunle O Balogun¹, Adekunle A Adeleke², Peter P Ikubanni¹, Samuel O Adegoke³, Abdulbaset M Alayat⁴, Armando G McDonald⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Nigeria.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Nigeria. adeleke.kunle@ymail.com.
³ Department of Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
⁴ Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844-1132, USA.

Abstract

A non-isothermal decomposition of Moringa oleifera husk and Delonix regia seed pod was carried out in an N₂ pyrolytic condition with the primary objective of undertaking the kinetics modeling, thermodynamics and thermal performance analyses of the identified samples. Three different isoconversional models, namely, differential Friedman, Flynn-Wall-Ozawa, and Starink techniques were utilized for the deduction of the kinetics data. The thermodynamic parameters were deduced from the kinetic data based on a first-order chemical reaction model. In the kinetics study, a strong correlation (R² > 0.9) was observed throughout the conversion range for all the kinetic models. The activation energy profiles showed two distinctive regions. In the first region, the average activation energy values were relatively higher-a typical example is in the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa technique-MH (199 kJ/mol) and RP (194 kJ/mol), while in the second region, MH (292 kJ/mol) and RP (234 kJ/mol). It was also demonstrated that the thermal process for the samples experienced endothermic reactions thought the conversion range. In summary, both the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters vary significantly with conversion-underscoring the complexity associated with the thermal conversion of lignocellulosic biomass samples.