Study of Combustion Characteristics and Kinetics of Agriculture Briquette Using Thermogravimetric Analysis

The present paper was aimed to investigate the physicochemical properties and combustion characteristics of corn straw briquette as a fuel energy. The results of physicochemical properties displayed that corn straw briquette has higher volatile matter, lower ash content, and higher heating value. Combustion characteristics and kinetic analysis were investigated using thermogravimetry analysis at various heating rates of 10, 15, and 20 °C/min. It was observed that the maximum burning rate shifted to a higher temperature as the heating rate increased. In addition, a lower heating rate would help in better heat transfer, leading to less mass residual. In contrast, the combustion characteristic index showed a nearly 2-fold increase under a higher heating rate, indicating a good combustion performance. The combustion kinetics were expressed using isoconversional methods with Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose and Ozawa-Flynn-Wall methods, which authenticated the average activation energy at 108.85 and 114.42 kJ/mol, respectively. These results can provide a theoretical basis and data support for further utilization of agriculture biomass briquette.