%0 Journal Article
%T Evaluation of Thermal Evolution Profiles and Estimation of Kinetic Parameters for Pyrolysis of Coal/Corn Stover Blends Using Thermogravimetric Analysis
%A Abhijit Bhagavatula
%A Gerald Huffman
%A Naresh Shah
%A Rick Honaker
%J Journal of Fuels
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/914856
%X The thermal evolution profiles and kinetic parameters for the pyrolysis of two Montana coals (DECS-38 subbituminous coal and DECS-25 lignite coal), one biomass sample (corn stover), and their blends (10%, 20%, and 30% by weight of corn stover) have been investigated at a heating rate of 5¡ãC/min in an inert nitrogen atmosphere, using thermogravimetric analysis. The thermal evolution profiles of subbituminous coal and lignite coal display only one major peak over a wide temperature distribution, ~152¨C814¡ãC and ~175¨C818¡ãC, respectively, whereas the thermal decomposition profile for corn stover falls in a much narrower band than that of the coals, ~226¨C608¡ãC. The nonlinearity in the evolution of volatile matter with increasing percentage of corn stover in the blends verifies the possibility of synergistic behavior in the blends with subbituminous coal where deviations from the predicted yield ranging between 2% and 7% were observed whereas very little deviations (1%¨C3%) from predicted yield were observed in blends with lignite indicating no significant interactions with corn stover. In addition, a single first-order reaction model using the Coats-Redfern approximation was utilized to predict the kinetic parameters of the pyrolysis reaction. The kinetic analysis indicated that each thermal evolution profile may be represented as a single first-order reaction. Three temperature regimes were identified for each of the coals while corn stover and the blends were analyzed using two and four temperature regimes, respectively. 1. Introduction The past few years have seen an upsurge in interest in the gasification of biomass for several reasons. They include the following [1].(1)Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions caused by the combustion of fossil fuels.(2)A need for energy independence due to the depleting resources and fluctuating prices of oil and natural gas.(3)Developing interest in renewable energy resources.Although there is an abundance of coal in the United States and several other countries and the fact that it will continue to be a major source of energy for many years to come, there is still great interest in replacing part of the coal used in energy generation with renewable biomass [2]. Many countries have initiated incentives in recent years to encourage the coutilization of biomass and coal for energy production [3]. The term biomass is used to encompass any plant-derived organic matter available on a renewable basis [2]. Biomass fuels (BF) are to be sustainable natural resources if they renew themselves at such a rate that they will be available
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jfu/2014/914856/