Pyrolysis performance of peat moss: A simultaneous in-situ thermal analysis and bench-scale experimental study

Abstract

Peat moss in drained peatlands has become a non-negligible source of greenhouse gases (GHG) emission. Pyrolysis is a potential technique to convert carbon-emitting peat moss to carbon-storage materials. This work investigates the behavior of peat moss pyrolysis by a combined in-situ thermal analysis and bench-scale pyrolysis experiment methodology. The simultaneous thermal analyzer, which provides the simultaneous TG/DTA analysis, was employed to reveal the thermal decomposition behavior of peat moss. The samples were heated up to 900 °C with different heating rates of 10, 15, and 20 °C/min. Thereafter, pyrolysis experiments with peak temperatures of 450, 500, 550 and 600 °C were performed in a bench-scale pyrolyzer. It was found that there are four main stages and two micro stages of mass loss during peat moss pyrolysis from room temperature to 900 °C. Also, kinetic parameters were calculated based on the results of TG and DTG by the Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) method and the Coats-Redfern (CR) method. In the bench-scale pyrolysis experiments, four phases, i.e., char, tar, aqueous phase, and gas, were obtained and characterized. The carbon distribution and the GHG emission from peat moss pyrolysis were determined.