SLOW PYROLYSIS OF SELECTED AGRICULTURAL WASTES: ANALYSIS OF THERMAL DEGRADATION BEHAVIOR

Abstract

The use of fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide (CO₂).  Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gasses that contributes to global climate change. Due to this issue, there is increasing the requirement for the use of renewable materials and development of the additional sustainable process. Agricultural waste that has the property of fast growth, is an alternative renewable energy. In this work the slow pyrolysis of selected agricultural wastes mixture (cassava peel-rice straw, rice straw-rice husk, and cassava peel-rice husk) were studied to determine thermal degradation behavior of the biomass. The process was conducted in a fixed bed reactor at temperatures 325 °C, at 10 °C/min heating rate and at 10 min holding time. Results revealed that the moisture content of agricultural wastes were 4.40 % (cassava peel-rice husk), 5.48 % (rice straw-rice husk) and 8.12 %  (cassava peel-rice straw). The devolatilization process of the biomass was taken place in the temperature range from 189 ^oC to 325 ^oC. The volatile matter of each sample was 61.5%  for cassava peel-rice husk, 58.5 %  for rice straw-rice husk and 52.5 % for cassava peel-rice straw.