Kinetic of the Thermal Conversion Processes of Tropical Biomasses

The growing demand of carbonaceous adsorbents, fundamentally for environmental applications, has motivated the use of different resources of biomass unknown until now. In the present work, the characteristic kinetic parameters of the pyrolisis and activation processes corresponding to different tropical renewable precursors (Anoncillo, Brasilete, Marabou barks and coconut shell) were determined by using a simple mathematical model, frequently employed in similar systems. Thermogravimetric tests (TGA) were done in nitrogen atmosphere for the pyrolisis process and N2-steam water for the activation one up to 1000°C employing a heating rate of 10°C*min-1. Also, the crystallinity degree () of the precursors, employed as raw material, was determined by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The characterization of the activated carbons prepared was accomplished through the determination of a parameter that provides an indirect estimation of the impact resistance and wear resistance. The reached results allowed inferring a correlation between the crystallinity degree of the studied renewable precursors and the analyzed thermal conversion processes.