Thermogravimetric study and kinetics of banana peel pyrolysis: a comparison of 'model-free' methods

In this study, a fixed-bed reactor was designed and fabricated to experiment with pyrolysis of banana peel biomass. A thermogravimetric and kinetic study was performed to estimate the optimal parameters for pyrolysis of banana peel biomass. The banana peel underwent pyrolysis in the reactor at 600 degrees C for 45-60 min at different heating rates of 5, 10 and 15 degrees C/min. The bio-oil yield was 11.47, 12.5 and 12.88 mL/100g of biomass used, respectively. Model-free methods were studied to calculate the activation energy of the pyrolysis of banana peel biomass. The average activation energy for the pyrolysis process calculated using the Kissinger, Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose, Flynn-Wall-Ozawa, Friedman and Coats-Redfern method was found to be 108.42, 167.64, 157.42, 181.27 and 201 kJ/mol, respectively. A gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis and the fuel properties of the banana peel pyro-oil are also discussed. The current study shows that banana peel biomass can be used as a viable source for waste-to-energy conversion.