Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis and Kinetic Study of Biomass Pyrolysis

Abstract

In order to realize the optimization of pyrolysis process, the pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of common agriculture and forestry biomass were studied. Four kinds of biomass were chosen as experiment materials for thermo-gravimetric experiment. The Characteristics of biomass pyrolysis was studied by defining a new evaluation methodology. The method of Coats-Redfern was used to analyze pyrolysis kinetics of biomass pyrolysis process. The results of research show that the pyrolysis process of biomass can be divided into three stages, including drying and preheating, fast pyrolysis and slow decomposition of residue. The activation energy of pyrolysis reaction of biomass during the low temperature stage is higher than that of the high temperature stage. The values of the activation energy and pre-exponential factor are increasing with the increase of heating rate. The pyrolysis of biomass in the main pyrolysis zone can be effectively described by using the kinetic model n=2. The heating rate of 15K/min and temperature of 500°C can improve the reaction rate, and it helps to reduce energy consumption of the reaction.