Pyrolysis Characteristics of Phoenix Dactylifera Date Palm Seeds Using Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)

Abstract

Mass losses of Phoenix dactylifera date palm seeds (DPSs) were measured using a thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA). Six-milligram-sample of six varieties of DPSs were pyrolyzed in an inert condition (argon atmosphere) with a constant flow rate of 100 ml/min for the entire range of experiments. The experiments were conducted under non-isothermal conditions and at a heating rate of 20°C/min until the furnace wall temperature reached 900°C. The moisture (M), ash (ASH), volatile matter (VM) and fixed carbon (FC) of the selected date seeds were determined by means of proximate analysis. The weight percentages of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S) and atomic ratios (H/C and O/C) were determined through the ultimate analysis. The heating value, bulk and particle density of DPSs were also measured using a bomb calorimeter and ultra-pycnometer, respectively. The yield of the liquids was obtained by subtracting the total gaseous mass from the DTG data. The experiments demonstrated that there were significant differences in physiochemical properties of selected DPSs. The findings also revealed that DPSs contain much volatile compounds. DPSs energy densities were found to be among the high-quality biological feedstocks.