Pyrolysis and kinetic analyses of Camel grass (Cymbopogon schoenanthus) for bioenergy

Muhammad Aamer Mehmood; Guangbin Ye; Huibo Luo; Chenguang Liu; Sana Malik; Ifrah Afzal; Jianren Xu; Muhammad Sajjad Ahmad

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2016.12.096

Pyrolysis and kinetic analyses of Camel grass (Cymbopogon schoenanthus) for bioenergy

Bioresour Technol. 2017 Mar:228:18-24. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.12.096. Epub 2016 Dec 25.

Authors

Muhammad Aamer Mehmood¹, Guangbin Ye², Huibo Luo², Chenguang Liu³, Sana Malik¹, Ifrah Afzal¹, Jianren Xu³, Muhammad Sajjad Ahmad⁴

Affiliations

¹ Bioenergy Research Centre, Department of Bioinformatics & Biotechnology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan.
² College of Bioengineering, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong 643000, People's Republic of China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, and School of Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Bioenergy Research Centre, Department of Bioinformatics & Biotechnology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan. Electronic address: sajjad.bioinfo@gmail.com.

PMID: 28056365
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.12.096

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study the thermal degradation of grass (Cymbopogon schoenanthus) under an inert environment at three heating rates, including 10, 30, and 50°Cmin^-1 in order to evaluate its bioenergy potential. Pyrolysis experiments were performed in a simultaneous Thermogravimetry-Differential Scanning Calorimetry analyzer. Thermal data were used to analyze kinetic parameters through isoconversional models of Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) and Kissenger-Akahira-Sunose (KSA) methods. The pre-exponential factors values have shown the reaction to follow first order kinetics. Activation energy values were shown to be 84-193 and 96-192kJmol^-1 as calculated by KSA and FWO methods, respectively. Differences between activation energy and enthalpy of reaction values (∼5 to 6kJmol^-1) showed product formation is favorable. The Gibb's free energy (173-177kJmol^-1) and High Heating Value (15.00MJkg^-1) have shown the considerable bioenergy potential of this low-cost biomass.

Keywords: Bioenergy; Low cost biomass; Pyrolysis; TGA-DSC.

MeSH terms

Biofuels*
Biomass
Calorimetry, Differential Scanning
Cymbopogon / chemistry*
Heating
Kinetics
Models, Theoretical
Thermodynamics
Thermogravimetry

Substances

Biofuels