Existence of Synergistic Effects During Co-pyrolysis of Petroleum Coke and Wood Pellet

This study attempts to comprehend the thermal degradation behaviour of different blends of petroleum coke (denoted as PC) and wood pellets (denoted as WP) (1:0, 3:1, 1:1. 1:3 and 0:1) using thermogravimetric (denoted as TG) analysis under N-2 atmosphere with constant particle size range of 500-850 mu m and at constant heating rate of 5 degrees C/min. TG experiments indicated that it is difficult to predict the pyrolysis characteristics of their blends accurately based on individual components and blending ratios. The non-additive behaviour of TG curves of the blends indicates presence of synergistic effects which could further promote the volatile yields during the co-pyrolysis process. The mixed model including homogeneous reaction model (denoted as HRM) and shrinking core model (denoted as SCM) models were used to predict the variation in kinetic parameters (activation energy and pre-exponential factor) with different blend ratios. The most obvious synergistic effects were observed when the blending ratio was 25% on account of maximum mass loss rate from the differential thermogravimetry (denoted as DTG), maximum deviation based on root mean square (denoted as RMS) value as well as divergence in the differential thermogravimetric analysis (denoted as DTA) curve.