Discernment of synergy during the co‐pyrolysis of lipid extracted microalgae and digested municipal solid waste: A TG‐MS study

BACKGROUND: The current study investigated the co-pyrolysis nature of biomasses, gas yields, kinetics and thermodynamics of Chroococcus sp. (CC), digested municipal solid waste (DMSW) and their mixtures using thermogravimetric analysis and mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Thermogravimetric/differential thermogravimetric analysis indicated three major weight loss stages: dehydration (50–150 °C), thermal degradation of structural components (150–550 °C) and char decomposition (550–800 °C). The gases released during the process mainly contained CO, CH4, CO2 and H2 as main components. Also, with an increase in the composition of CC, the hydrogen yields were noticed to increase. Model-free isoconversional methods, the Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose and Friedman methods, were considered to identify the activation energy. The kinetic results showed that an increase in the percentage of CC in the mixture lowered the activation energy. The activation energies recorded for CC, DMSW, CD-1, -2 and -3 were 282.11, 202.55, 210.54, 145.46 and 139.98 kJ mol−1, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Thermodynamic and kinetic analysis for CC, DMSW and their mixtures can be effectively used for reactor design and process optimization for similar types of waste materials. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).