Asymptotic Approximations to the Non-Isothermal Distributed Activation Energy Model for Bio-Mass Pyrolysis

Abstract

Abstract This paper describes the influence of some parameters significant to biomass pyrolysis on the numerical solutions of the non-isothermal nth order distributed activation energy model (DAEM) using the Gamma distribution and discusses the special case for the positive integer value of the scale parameter (λ), i.e. the Erlang distribution. Investigated parameters are the integral upper limit, the frequency factor, the heating rate, the reaction order, and the shape and rate parameters of the Gamma distribution. Influence of these parameters has been considered for the determination of the kinetic parameters of the non-isothermal nth order Gamma distribution from the experimentally derived thermoanalytical data of biomass pyrolysis. Mathematically, the effect of parameters on numerical solution is also used for predicting the behaviour of the unpyrolysized fraction of biomass with respect to temperature. Analysis of the mathematical model is based upon asymptotic expansions, which leads to the systematic methods for efficient way to determine the accurate approximations. The proposed method, therefore, provides a rapid and highly effective way for estimating the kinetic parameters and the distribution of activation energies.