Evaluation of Thermal Decomposition Characteristics and Kinetic Parameters of Melina Wood

The evaluation of thermal decomposition characteristics and kinetic parameters of melina wood were investigated. Proximate, ultimate and calorific value analyses of the melina wood were carried out based on standards. Melina wood was subjected to multiple heating rates (5–15oC/min) in thermogravimetric experiment. Two prominent isoconversional methods (Flynn-Wall-Ozawa and Starink) were adopted to obtain kinetic parameters from the non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis curves. The ash, volatile matter and carbon contents of the melina were 2.15, 81.42 and 47.05%, respectively, while the calorific value was 18.72MJ/kg. The main devolatilization stage of melina ranged from 220oC to 350oC while 80% weight loss was obtained below 400oC. The activation energy varied between approximately 15 and 162kJ/mol as a function of degree of conversion. The pre-exponential factors varied between 1.60Eþ2 and 5.67 Eþ12/min. The decomposition kinetic mechanism of melina is concluded to be a multi-step reaction.