Thermal study of decomposition of selected biomass samples

Fears of climate change and increasing concern over the global warming have prompted a search for new, cleaner methods for electricity power generation. Technologies based on utilising biomass are attracting much attention because biomass is considered to be CO₂ neutral. Co-firing of biomass fuels with coal, for example, is presently being considered as a mean for reducing the global CO₂ emissions. Biomass is also applied in thermal conversion processes to produce fuels with higher calorific values and adsorbents. In any case, thermal decomposition is essential stage where volatiles and tars are evolved followed by consequent heats of reactions. In this work sawdust biomass samples were selected in order to study their thermal conversion behaviour. Heats of decomposition for each sample were measured during continuous heating at a prescribed heating rate under inert atmospheric conditions. The decomposition generally commenced in all samples at 150°C and was completed at 460°C in a series of endo and exothermic reactions influenced by its lignin and cellulosic content. Single biomass sample was subjected to heating rates ranging from 10 to 1000°C min^-1 and the effect of heating rate on decomposition was studied. The origin of reactions for each thermal sequence is herein discussed in detail. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.