Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Petroleum and Coal, cilt.63, sa.3, ss.694-703, 2021 (Scopus)
© 2021. All Rights Reserved.The cultivation and processing of maize (Zea mays L.) in Nigeria generates large quantities of maize cobs (MC). Current strategies for MC disposal and management are outdated, inefficient, and costly. However, the lignocellulosic nature of MC is suitable for energy recovery through biomass combustion. Studies on the critical examination of the solid-state fuel properties, thermal behaviour, degradation pathways, and temperature profile characteristics (TPCs) of MC are currently lacking in the literature. Therefore, this study seeks to comprehensively investigate the physicochemical, thermal and kinetic properties of MC as solid biofuel for combustion. The results revealed that MC contains high carbon, volatile matter, and fixed carbon along with low ash, nitrogen, and sulphur. Thermal analysis revealed that MC degradation is significantly influenced by temperature and heating rate. Furthermore, higher heating rates from 10 to 30°C/min shifted the TPCs of the TG-DTG plots to higher values. The average TPCs are onset (Tons), midpoint (Tmid), and endpoint (Tend) temperatures are; 288.21°C, 305.39°C, and 325.71°C, respectively for the TGA combustion of MC. The TGA combustion of MC resulted in ML of 94.22 -95.83% and residual mass (RM) of 4.17-5.78%. The degradation pathway for the TGA combustion of MC occurs in three major stages as evident in DTG peaks from RT - 110°C, 200°C -500°C. The kinetic analysis revealed that E and A are 125.51 kJ mol-1 and 2.65x1015 min-1. Overall, the results demonstrate that MC is a highly reactive and practical feedstock for clean energy recovery.