Abstract
Present study has been focused on the bio-energy potential of waste biomass (water hyacinth leaves and its stem). Pyrolysis of both biomasses were investigated at five different heating rates (5–25 °C/min) using thermogravimetric analyzer. For both biomasses, maximum thermal degradation occurred within the temperature range of 200–400 °C, which is the active pyrolytic zone. Three non-iso-conversional (degradation models) including the Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose, Flynn-Wall-Ozawa, and Starink were used to calculate the activation energy of both biomasses. The activation energy was around 92–98 kJ/mol for water hyacinth leaves and 151–153 kJ/mol for water hyacinth stems. The results suggest that these low-cost abundantly available biomasses have a good potential for the production of solid bio-fuel.
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•Pyrolysis of water hyacinth leaves (WHL) and stems (WHS) using thermogravimetric.•Kinetic models Flynn-Wall-Ozawa, Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose and Starink.•Optimum activation energy using Flynn-Wall-Ozawa was -98 kJ/mol for WHL.•Maximum activation energy using Flynn-Wall-Ozawa was -153 kJ/mol for WHS.•Higher heating value was -13 MJ/kg for water hyacinth leaves.