Cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto) is a potential local energy source for the Southeastern United States. The pyrolysis kinetics of biomass decomposition are important for the design of efficient industrial thermochemical conversion processes. The kinetics of three particle size fractions of cabbage palm leaf, stalk and trunk were analyzed using nonisothermal thermogravimetric analysis with heating rates of 25, 50 and 100�C/min. Using the Arrhenius equation to calculate the activation energy and pre-exponential factor, three distinct fractions, corresponding primarily to hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin, were found to decompose over three temperature ranges, each with distinct activation energies. Pyrolysis at higher heating rates decreased the activation energy of each palm material, whereas particle size was not correlated with activation energy. For leaf, stalk and trunk, activation energies ranged from 64-117, 63-157 and 17-26 kJ/mol for the low, medium, and high temperature range fractions, corresponding to hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin, respectively.

Energy along I-95: Pyrolysis kinetics of Floridian cabbage palm

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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