Combustion characteristics and kinetics of five tropic oilgal strains using thermogravimetric analysis

Abstract

In order to utilize the microalgal biomass sufficiently, thermogravimetry experimentation analyses of five microalgal strains (Chlorella sorokiniana C74 (C. sorokiniana C74), Desmodesmus sp. WC08, Chlorella sorokiniana XS04 (C. sorokiniana XS04), Scenedesmus ecornis G2 (S. ecornis G2) and Dictyosphaerium sp. 1A10) were performed by using TG–DTG–DSC (thermogravimetric–differential thermogravimetric–differential scanning calorimetry) thermal analysis technology. The combustion indexes, parameters and synthetic combustion characteristics were investigated. Meanwhile, the combustion kinetics parameters were identified with heating rates from 5 to 40 °C min−1 and conversion fractions from 0.1 to 0.9. The results showed that the burning TG–DTG curves of all five microalgal strains were different and the exothermic regions of five microalgal strains in DSC curves were different as well. The variation trends of apparent activation energy of Dictyosphaerium sp. 1A10, C. sorokiniana C74, C. sorokiniana XS04 and S. ecornis G2 differed from Desmodesmus sp. WC08. The average apparent activation energy of Desmodesmus sp. WC08 was highest followed by C. sorokiniana C74, Dictyosphaerium sp. 1A10, C. sorokiniana XS04 and S. ecornis G2.