Evaluation of kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of Argemone mexicana seed pyrolysis via thermogravimetric analyser

The pyrolysis kinetics of Argemone mexicana seed, an extensively found naturalized weed in agricultural fields, was studied via thermogravimetric analysis under N 2 atmosphere at heating rates of 10 °C/min, 20 °C/min and 30 °C/min. Five kinetic approaches, viz. Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS), Ozawa-Flynn-Wall (OFW), Friedman (FRM), Starink (STR) and Vyazovkin (VYZ) methods, and a model-fitting approach (Kennedy and Clarke method) were employed on thermogravimetric information of Argemone mexicana seed to evaluate the kinetic parameters such as activation energy, pre-exponential factor and thermodynamic parameters. Activation energies procured from KAS, OFW, FRM, STR and VYZ methods were 174, 185.08, 212.86, 175.11 and 174.36 kJ/mol, respectively. Furthermore, an appropriate reaction mechanism was identified by the master plot method. The average pre-exponential factor obtained through the Kissinger approach was 8.23E + 22, 1.68E + 22 and 8.05E + 21 s −1 at three different heating rates. The average values of thermodynamic parameters (Δ H , Δ G and Δ S ) were 169.28 kJ/mol, 212.64 kJ/mol and − 70.95 J/mol at a lower heating rate of 10 °C/min. Experimental results reveal that kinetic parameters from the five model-free isoconversional methods are in better compliance with similar biomass materials, and Argemone mexicana seed can prove to be a promising alternating source for biofuel production. Graphical abstract