Isothermal Kinetic Analysis of the Thermal Decomposition of Wood Chips from an Apple Tree

Abstract

The thermal decomposition of wood chips from an apple tree is studied in a static air atmosphere under isothermal conditions. Based on the thermogravimetric analysis, the values of the apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor are 34 ± 3 kJ mol−1 and 391 ± 2 min−1, respectively. These results have also shown that this process can be described by the rate of the first-order chemical reaction. This reaction model is valid only for a temperature range of 250–290 °C, mainly due to the lignin decomposition. The obtained results are used for kinetic prediction, which is compared with the measurement. The results show that the reaction is slower at higher values of degree of conversion, which is caused by the influence of the experimental condition. Nevertheless, the obtained kinetic parameters could be used for the optimization of the combustion process of wood chips in small-scale biomass boilers.