An alternative approach for the screening of catalytic empty fruit bunch (EFB) pyrolysis using the values of activation energy from a thermogravimetric study

The catalytic effect of a series of doped and undoped metal oxides on the pyrolysis kinetics of empty fruit bunch (EFB) is investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) under nitrogen atmosphere and dynamic non-isothermal conditions from 301 to 1,273 K programmed at 10 K min−1. The kinetic parameters, namely the activation energy (Ea) values and pre-exponential factor (Ln A) are determined based on the Coats–Redfern method. Segmentation of the TG data into two temperature regimes, which are 473–573 K (section I) and 573–613 K (section II) representing the hemicellulose and cellulose decomposition respectively. The effect of each catalyst on EFB pyrolysis is evaluated based on the calculated mean Ea for section I and section II which indicates that Al2O3 catalyzed EFB reaction reduces the Ea for section I and section II by 6.05 and 1.77 kJ mol−1, respectively. Based on the Ea value for section I, Al2O3 is selected as the catalyst for incorporation in catalytic EFB pyrolytic reaction performs in a fixed bed reactor at 773 K with a heating rate of 20 K min−1 and keeps isothermal for 30 min. The result shows that the bio-oil increased by 6.88 % and decreased gas yield by 7.75 %.