Applied Chemical Engineering

Catalytic effect of ferric sulfate and zinc sulfate on lignin pyrolysis

Alberto Albis Arrieta

Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Atlántico,Grupo de Investigación Bioprocesos, Barranquilla

Ever Ortiz Muñoz

Facultas de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad del Atlántico,Grupo de Investigación Física de Materiales, Barranquilla

Ismael Piñeres Ariza

Facultas de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad del Atlántico,Grupo de Investigación Física de Materiales, Barranquilla

Juan Osorio Cardozo

Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Atlántico,Grupo de Investigación Bioprocesos, Barranquilla

Jennifer Monsalvo Morales

Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Atlántico, Grupo de Investigación Bioprocesos, Barranquilla,

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24294/ace.v5i1.1449

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Abstract

The effect of zinc sulfate and ferric sulfate on the pyrolysis process of lignin was studied at three different heating rates by using the thermogravimetric analysis technique. It was found that the pyrolysis of pure lignin is barely affected with the change of heating rates between 10 to 100 °C/min, which is unexpected because of the kinetic nature of pyrolysis. The pyrolysis kinetics of this major component of biomass was studied by using three fitting methods: the differential method with reaction order model n, the isoconversional method, and the distribution of activation energies model, DAEM. The best fit, which allowed calculating acceptable kinetic parameters, was obtained using the last method. The results show the influence of the catalysts and the heating rate on the lignin pyrolysis processes in the presence of the sulfates under study, which is confirmed by obtaining different kinetic parameters. The results suggest that zinc sulfate and ferric sulfate change the kinetic mechanism of lignin pyrolysis.

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