Pyrolysis and Thermogravimetric Study to Elucidate the Bioenergy Potential of Novel Feedstock Produced on Poor Soils While Keeping the Environmental Sustainability Intact

Ahmad, Muhammad Sajjad; Mehmood, Muhammad Aamer; Luo, Huibo; Shen, Boxiong; Latif, Muhammad; Ghani, Wan Azlina Wan Ab Karim; Alkhattabi, Nuha Abdulhamid; Aloqbi, Akram Ahmed; Jambi, Ebtihaj Jamaluddin; Gull, Munazza; Rashid, Umer

doi:10.3390/su11133592

Open AccessArticle

Pyrolysis and Thermogravimetric Study to Elucidate the Bioenergy Potential of Novel Feedstock Produced on Poor Soils While Keeping the Environmental Sustainability Intact

by

Muhammad Sajjad Ahmad

¹

,

Muhammad Aamer Mehmood

^1,2,*

,

Huibo Luo

²,

Boxiong Shen

³,

Muhammad Latif

⁴,

Wan Azlina Wan Ab Karim Ghani

^5,6,

Nuha Abdulhamid Alkhattabi

⁷,

Akram Ahmed Aloqbi

⁸,

Ebtihaj Jamaluddin Jambi

⁷,

Munazza Gull

⁷ and

Umer Rashid

^9,*

¹

Bioenergy Research Centre, Department of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan

²

School of Bioengineering, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong 643000, China

³

School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 430068, China

⁴

Department of Zoology, University of Education, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan

⁵

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor 43400, Malaysia

⁶

Sustainable Process Engineering Research Center (SPERC), Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor 43400, Malaysia

⁷

Biochemistry Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21551, Saudi Arabia

⁸

Biology Department, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21577, Saudi Arabia

⁹

Institute of Advanced Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor 43400, Malaysia

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sustainability 2019, 11(13), 3592; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133592

Submission received: 25 May 2019 / Revised: 6 June 2019 / Accepted: 8 June 2019 / Published: 29 June 2019

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Abstract

This work focused on exploring the bioenergy potential of biomass produced on salt-affected soils by growing two types of grasses, namely Parthenium hysterophorus (carrot grass) and Pennesetum benthiumo (mott grass), without using fertilizers or pesticides. The whole plant biomass of both grasses was pyrolyzed at three heating rates (10, 30, and 50 °C min⁻¹) in a joined Thermogravimetry–Differential Scanning Calorimetry (TGA–DSC) analyzer under an inert (nitrogen) environment. The pyrolysis of both grasses was shown to occur in a three-stage process, while most of the thermal transformation occurred at the temperature range of 240–400 °C. The pyrolytic behavior was assessed by estimating the kinetic parameters, using the isoconversional models of Kissenger–Akahira–Sunose and Ozawa–Flynn–Wall. The average values of the activation energy of carrot and mott grasses were shown to be 267 kJ mol⁻¹ (R² ≥ 0.98) and 188 kJ mol⁻¹ (R² ≥ 0.98), indicating the suitability of both grasses for co-pyrolysis. Whereas, the difference in the values of enthalpy change and the activation energy was shown to be <~5 kJ mol⁻¹ at each fractional point, which indicated that the product formation was being favored. Moreover, the high heating values of carrot grass (18.25 MJ kg⁻¹) and mott grass (18.63 MJ kg⁻¹) have shown a remarkable bioenergy potential and suitability of co-pyrolysis for both grasses. This study will lead to establishing an energy-efficient and cost-effective process for the thermal transformation of biomass to bioenergy.

Keywords: lignocellulosic biomass; low-cost production; TGA–DSC pyrolysis; isoconversional models; bioenergy potential

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MDPI and ACS Style

Ahmad, M.S.; Mehmood, M.A.; Luo, H.; Shen, B.; Latif, M.; Ghani, W.A.W.A.K.; Alkhattabi, N.A.; Aloqbi, A.A.; Jambi, E.J.; Gull, M.; et al. Pyrolysis and Thermogravimetric Study to Elucidate the Bioenergy Potential of Novel Feedstock Produced on Poor Soils While Keeping the Environmental Sustainability Intact. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3592. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133592

AMA Style

Ahmad MS, Mehmood MA, Luo H, Shen B, Latif M, Ghani WAWAK, Alkhattabi NA, Aloqbi AA, Jambi EJ, Gull M, et al. Pyrolysis and Thermogravimetric Study to Elucidate the Bioenergy Potential of Novel Feedstock Produced on Poor Soils While Keeping the Environmental Sustainability Intact. Sustainability. 2019; 11(13):3592. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133592

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ahmad, Muhammad Sajjad, Muhammad Aamer Mehmood, Huibo Luo, Boxiong Shen, Muhammad Latif, Wan Azlina Wan Ab Karim Ghani, Nuha Abdulhamid Alkhattabi, Akram Ahmed Aloqbi, Ebtihaj Jamaluddin Jambi, Munazza Gull, and et al. 2019. "Pyrolysis and Thermogravimetric Study to Elucidate the Bioenergy Potential of Novel Feedstock Produced on Poor Soils While Keeping the Environmental Sustainability Intact" Sustainability 11, no. 13: 3592. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133592

APA Style

Ahmad, M. S., Mehmood, M. A., Luo, H., Shen, B., Latif, M., Ghani, W. A. W. A. K., Alkhattabi, N. A., Aloqbi, A. A., Jambi, E. J., Gull, M., & Rashid, U. (2019). Pyrolysis and Thermogravimetric Study to Elucidate the Bioenergy Potential of Novel Feedstock Produced on Poor Soils While Keeping the Environmental Sustainability Intact. Sustainability, 11(13), 3592. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133592

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Pyrolysis and Thermogravimetric Study to Elucidate the Bioenergy Potential of Novel Feedstock Produced on Poor Soils While Keeping the Environmental Sustainability Intact

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