Kinetic study of the isothermal degradation of pine sawdust during torrefaction process

Abstract

The reaction kinetics of solid fuel is a critical aspect of energy production because its energy component is determined during the process. The overall fuel quality is also evaluated to account for a defined energy need. In this study, a two-step first-order reaction mechanism was used to model the rapid mass loss of pine sawdust (PSD) during torrefaction using a thermogravimetric analyzer (Q600 SDT). The kinetic analysis was carried in a MATLAB environment using MATLAB R2020b software. Five temperature regimes including 220, 240, 260, 280, and 300 °C and a retention time of 2 h were used to study the mechanism of the solid fuel reaction. Similarly, a combined demarcation time (i.e., estimating the time that demarcates the first stage and the second stage) and iteration technique was used to determine the actual kinetic parameters describing the fuel’s mass loss during the torrefaction process. The fuel’s kinetic parameters were estimated, while the developed kinetic model for the process was validated using the experimental data. The solid and gas distributions of the components in the reaction mechanism were also reported. The first stage of the degradation process was characterized by the rapid mass loss evident at the start of the torrefaction process. In contrast, the second stage was characterized by the slower mass loss phase, which follows the first stage. The activation energies for the first and second stages were 10.29 and 141.28 kJ/mol, respectively, to form the solids. The developed model was reliable in predicting the mass loss of the PSD. The biochar produced from the torrefaction process contained high amounts of the intermediate product that may benefit energy production. However, the final biochar formed at the end of the process increased with the increase in torrefaction severity (i.e., increase in temperature and time).