Investigation of (co)-combustion kinetics of biomass, coal and municipal solid wastes

•(Co-)combustion of biomass, biochar, coal, municipal solid waste were investigated.•Thermal degradation was analyzed using Coats-Redfern model.•A synergistic effect was detected between biomass, biochar, coal and municipal solid waste. Investigation of thermal behaviors of biomass waste, biochar, coal, municipal solid waste (MSW) and their mixtures were aimed in the present study using both thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimeter techniques. In fact, this paper intends to interpret the influence of mixtures on activation energy. In this purpose, Coats and Redfern were used. Then, the relative error Δmerror was calculated to quantify the synergism degree. Precisely, it was about 5.34% for biomass/coal, 5.52% for biomass/cardboard, 5.67% for biomass/biochar, 5.93% for biomass/synthetic rubber and 6.05% for biomass/plastic mixtures. This phenomenon was justified by the interaction between C-C bond of biochar, coal and MSW radicals with C-H and C-O bonds of biomass.