Insights into pyrolysis of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) straw through thermogravimetric analysis: Physico-chemical characterization, kinetics, and reaction mechanism

Millets and millet crop residues are gaining increasing attention. Present work provides insights into thermal degradation characteristics, pyrolysis indices, kinetic triplets, and thermodynamic parameters for pearl millet straw (PMS) pyrolysis. Pyrolysis indices revealed suitability of higher heating rates for PMS in terms of enhanced pyrolysis performance and shorter reaction time. Combined iso-conversional techniques and distributed activation energy model (DAEM) approach was employed to study kinetics of PMS pyrolysis. Average activation energy through Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose, Flynn-Wall-Ozawa, Friedman, Starink, Vyazovkin, and DAEM was found to be 189.61, 190.84, 192.71, 187.84, 193.33, and 191.08 kJ/mol, respectively. Statistical analysis through ANOVA using Tukey test demonstrated insignificant deviation for obtained activation energies. Kinetic compensation effect was employed to determine pre-exponential factor. Master plots revealed prevalence of random nucleation (R1 and R2) for α < 0.5 and diffusion (D1) and power law (P2) models for α > 0.5. Thermodynamic parameters revealed endothermic, non-spontaneous, and high degree of randomness for PMS pyrolysis.