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Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Transformation of Organic Household Leftovers into a Peat Substitute
Published on: July 9, 2019
Thermogravimetric analysis of biowastes during combustion
M Otero1, M E Sanchez, X Gómez
1CESAM, Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, Aveiro, Portugal. marta.otero@ua.pt
Abstract:
The combustion of sewage sludge (SS), animal manure (AM) and the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) was assessed and compared with that of a semianthracite coal (SC) and of a PET waste by thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. Differences were found in the TG curves obtained for the combustion of these materials accordingly to their respective proximate analysis. Non-isothermal thermogravimetric data were used to assess the kinetics of the combustion of these biowastes. The present paper reports on the application of the Vyazovkin model-free isoconversional method for the evaluation of the activation energy necessary for the combustion of these biowastes. The activation energy related to SS combustion (129.1 kJ/mol) was similar to that corresponding to AM (132.5 kJ/mol) while the OFMSW showed a higher value (159.3 kJ/mol). These values are quite higher than the one determined in the same way for the combustion of SC (49.2 kJ/mol) but lower than that for the combustion of a PET waste (165.6 kJ/mol).
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