Biomass pyrolysis kinetics through thermogravimetric analysis

The objective of this work is to produce a semi-empiric kinetic model for the pyrolysis of five biomass feedstocks widely generated in the Mediterranean area. These include olive stone, pine wood, paulownia wood, cardoon and vine shoots. The biomass samples were characterized for their elemental composition. Thermogravimetric analyses (TG/DTG) were conducted under inert atmospheric conditions. The experimental results were fitted in order to determine the kinetics parameters in terms of reaction order (n), specific rate constant (k) and activation energy (Ea) for each considered reaction.