Investigation of co-combustion characteristics of olive bagasse, coal and their respective blends by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Co-combustion characteristic was investigated in detail to investigate the combustion of coal/olive bagasse and their different ratios blends (10%, 25%, 50%, and 75%) using the thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and the differential thermogravimetric analysis (DTG). Ignition and peak temperatures and other combustion characteristics for the samples were determined and correlated with the results obtained depending on the percentages of blends. As a results of the evaluation of all these parameters, it was thought that 25% olive bagasse and 75% coal blend were the most suitable value. In the final part of the work, the kinetic analysis of the samples was carried out by the Coats–Redfern method and the activation energies were determined. The activation energies of the coal/olive bagasse and their blends were assessed and compared. The calculated activation energy values for the combustion reactions of the samples ranged were found to be between 11.44 kJ/mol and 21.67 kJ/mol. As the blend percentage increased the olive bagasse showed a decreasing trend according to the ignition and peak temperature of the coal. It was determined that coal had more difficult combustible behavior than olive bagasse. In addition, a decrease in calorific values and an increase in comprehensive combustion index (CCI) value were observed as the percentage of olive bagasse blend increased.