Thermogravimetric characteristics and kinetic modeling of Piptocoma discolor pyrolysis and combustion processes to contribute to its use as a renewable energy source in the Ecuadorian Amazon region

Nowadays, research has focused more on the behavior of the thermodecomposition of new lignocellulosic materials to improve scientific understanding of biomass as an energy resource. The present work focused on determining the thermogravimetric characteristics and kinetic modeling of Piptocoma discolor pyrolysis and combustion processes as a contribution towards understanding its energetic use in the Ecuadorian Amazon region. Thermogravimetric analysis was applied to study the thermal decomposition of P. discolor biomass under inert atmosphere conditions and in the presence of oxygen at a heating rate of 5 °C/min, from room temperature up to 900 °C. A mechanism of three independent parallel reactions was employed to detail the pyrolysis, as well as an additional step to model the combustion process in order to include the char oxidation reaction. The model succeeded in reproducing the degradation curves for pyrolysis and combustion with a very good fit between the experimental and calculated data. We obtained variation coefficient values of less than 5% (pyrolysis 3.19% and combustion 2.97%). Based on these results, it is confirmed that biomass obtained from P. discolor can be used as a source for energy generation using thermoconversion processes. The thermogravimetric and kinetic parameters provide useful information for designing a technically, economically, and environmentally feasible system for the energetic use of the biomass from P. discolor as a renewable resource in the Pastaza province of the Ecuadorian Amazon region.