Co-pyrolysis of binary and ternary mixtures of microalgae, wood and waste tires through TGA

Degradation behavior and kinetics of microalgae chlorella vulgaris, wood, scrap tire and binary and ternary mixtures were investigated by using thermogravimetry analysis method. Experiments were carried out at different heating rates of 10 - 20 and 40 degrees C/min from ambient temperature to 600 degrees C. The results showed that decomposition of microalgae, wood and tire take place in three stages and the second stage is the main thermal decomposition step. Besides, heating rate enhancements shift the maximum peak temperature of microalgae, wood and scrap tire from 300 degrees C, 350 degrees C and 380 degrees C to 340 degrees C, 390 degrees C and 420 degrees C, respectively. In the case of the ternary mixture, the maximum peak temperature of the mixture was approximately equal to the maximum peak temperature of the tire. The interaction between materials was studied and the results showed that the interaction is inhibitive rather than synergistic. The results of kinetic investigation showed that the tire and the wood have the highest (273.64 kJ/mol) and the lowest (120.96 kJ/mol) activation energy, respectively. The presence of wood and microalgae increased the total weight loss of binary mixture of microalgae-tire and wood-tire, while tire presence did not improve the degradation of microalgae-wood mixture. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.