Thermochemical behaviors and co-gasification kinetics of palm kernel shells with bituminous coal

This work presents the effect of heating rate on thermal degradation behavior and kinetics of the imported bituminous coal (IC) and co-gasification of its blended form with palm kernel shells (PKS) of oil palm industry waste at different blending ratios. Thermogravimetry and pyrolytic kinetics of IC were determined by heating up to 1000 °C at various heating rates of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 °C/min. With the increase in heating rate, the degradation behavior of the IC improved with activation energy ( E a ) and was found to be between 25 and 92 kJ/mol. While co-gasification with the blended form of IC with PKS at different ratios improved the degradation pattern, as well as the reaction and kinetic parameters with E a ranged between 36 and 54 kJ/mol. The outcome of the study proposes the suitable blended form of this bituminous coal with PKS for efficient co-gasification on promoting energy mix and environmental aspects.