Investigation of kinetic and thermodynamic parameters approaches to non-isothermal pyrolysis of mustard stalk using model-free and master plots methods

Abstract Present work based on thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to decipher in detail the pyrolysis of mustard stalk (MS) for investigating its potential for bioenergy feedstock at three heating rates (5, 10, and 20 °C/min). The thermal degradation behaviors of MS were carried out at three heating rates (5, 10, and 20 °C/min). The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters were examined using model-free isoconversional Flynn- Wall-Ozawa (FWO), Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) model. The obtained activation energy for pyrolysis of MS using FWO and KAS to be 132.47 and 130.62 kJ/mol. Kissinger method was used to compute pre-exponential factor found to be in the range of 105 to 1016 s−1 at different heating rates. The average Δ H was 127.70, and 125.8 kJ/mol and Δ G is 127.74 and 127.87 kJ/mol from FWO and KAS respectively, all Δ H positive indicated endothermic nature. The Coats-Redfern approach was used to estimate the thermal degradation reaction mechanism, which revealed that the diffusion model was best suited to reflect the degradation process involving both exothermic and endothermic reactions. The analysis can help augment the experimental studies, and physicochemical characterization revealed its fuel characteristic since MS is sustainable and promising biomass for alternative processes in terms of waste management strategies.