Thermogravimetry study of the pyrolytic characteristics and kinetics of macro-algae Macrocystis pyrifera residue

Abstract

Macrocystis pyrifera is one important marine macro-algae, while its residues produced by industrial alginate extraction is a hot potato. To figure out whether its residue is suitable for pyrolysis for biofuel, the pyrolytic characteristics and kinetics of macro-algae M. pyrifera residue was investigated using thermogravimetric method from 50 to 800 A degrees C in an inert argon atmosphere at different heating rates of 5, 10, 20, and 30 A degrees C min(-1). The activation energy and pre-exponential factor was calculated by Flynn-Wall-Ozawa, Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose, and Popescu methods, and the kinetic mechanism was deduced by Popescu method. The results showed that the primary devolatilization stage of M. pyrifera residue can be described by Jander function . The average activation energy of M. pyrifera residue was 222.4 kJ mol(-1). The results suggested that the experimental results and kinetic parameters provided useful information for the design of pyrolytic processing system using M. pyrifera residue as feedstock.