Thermogravimetric analysis of high- and low-density sawdust under nitrogen gas atmosphere.

The paper presents the thermal degradation of low-density wood sawdust (LDS) and high-density wood sawdust (HDS) under a nitrogen gas atmosphere using thermogravimetric analysis together with the assessment of their combustion parameters. A thermal conversion experiment was carried out at three different heating rates (5°C, 10°C, and 15°C/min) for three different particle sizes (<0.6, 0.6 ≤ x ≤ 0.8 , 0.8 > x ≤ 1 mm). The DTGmax showed that the HDS ( ≤ 17.9) experienced more weight loss than the LDS ( ≤ 15.8) , for the three particle sizes at different heating rates. There were no relevant differences in ignition temperature and burnout temperature for the two sawdust at different particle sizes. The HDS had more ignition index (between 2.02 and 58.83 wt.%/min3 *10−3) at all particle sizes, indicating better performance than the LDS (between 1.27 and 49.99 wt.%/min3 *10−3). The kinetics analysis shows that the activation energy varies with heating rate and particle size. The average activation energy for the HDS ranged between 51.43 and 154.69 kJ/mol, while for the LDS it ranged between 45.90 and 172.78 kJ/mol. This indicates that the HDS burns quicker and is a better fuel. Also, these combustion parameters will aid in optimizing combustion processes and designing efficient combustion systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]