Oat straw pyrolysis with ammonium chloride doping: Analysis of evolved gases, kinetic triplet, and thermodynamic parameters

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to determine the effect of the addition of NH₄Cl to oat straw on the evolved gases, kinetic triplet, and thermodynamic parameters of the pyrolysis process at 873 K. A complementary approach allowed to assess the effects of the pyrolysis of chlorine- and nitrogen-enriched biomass. The thermal analysis of biomass was performed for four heating rates (5, 10, 20, and 30 K/min). The doping of NH₄Cl in the straw favoured i) carbonisation of the chars, ii) formation of C-N bonds, iii) reduction of evolved CH₄ and CO₂, and iv) an increase in the mean values of the effective activation energy and all thermodynamic parameters. A group of reactions that best fit the experimental data of the pyrolysis process was selected. It was necessary to use unspecified mechanisms to describe the reaction model, particularly for samples enriched with NH₄Cl.

Keywords: Activation energy; Biomass; Reaction model; Thermogravimetric analysis.