Thermal degradation kinetics of sugarcane bagasse and soft wood cellulose

Abstract

The properties of untreated sugar cane bagasse (SCB) and soft wood (SW) and their respective celluloses were investigated. The celluloses indicated improved crystallinity index values and decreased concentration of lignin and hemicellulose compared to their untreated counterparts. Three degradation models, Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS), Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (OFW), and Kissinger (KGR) methods were employed to determine apparent activation energy values. Generally, the thermal degradation processes of both sugarcane bagasse and soft wood included dehydration, degradation of hemicellulose and cellulose, whereas the lignin degraded from the degradation temperature of hemicellulose to the end of the cellulose. The apparent activation energy values obtained from the OFW and KAS models vary with the degree of conversion, and showed similar trends. The activation energies obtained by KGR were relatively lower than those obtained from the KAS and OFW methods.