Studies on synergistic effects in co-pyrolysis of sargassum and poplar: Thermal behavior and kinetics

Abstract

In this study, a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) was used to study the co-pyrolysis process of two raw materials at different mixing ratios. The overlap ratio (OR) and the difference between experimental and theoretical weight loss (ΔW) were used to analyze the pyrolysis behavior. The results showed that the co-pyrolysis of poplar and sargassum had a significant synergistic effect. Compared with the single pyrolysis of poplar, the co-pyrolysis of poplar and sargassum lowered the initial decomposition temperature and delayed the termination temperature of the mixture. When the ratio of poplar to sargassum was 4:6 (PS46), the synergistic effect was the most significant, with OR value of 0.9328 and ΔW of − 5.535 %. The kinetic calculation results also confirmed that the addition of sargassum can effectively reduce the pyrolysis activation energy of the mixture. This work confirms that the addition of sargassum can significantly promote the pyrolysis of poplar, and can provide theoretical guidance for the synergistic utilization of terrestrial biomass and aquatic biomass.