STUDY OF THERMAL BEHAVIOUR OF MESOCARP FIBRE, BITUMINOUS COAL AND THEIR BLENDS THROUGH THERMOGRAVIMETRIC ANALYSIS

In this study, an investigation was carried out on the thermal behaviour of mesocarp fibre, bituminous coal and their blends through dynamic thermogravimetric analysis. The analysis was carried out using 100% percentage composition of mesocarp fibre and bituminous coal respectively, and their blends (75, 50, and 25 wt% of mesocarp fibre, which implied 25, 50 and 75 wt% of coal). Two different heating rates were employed and pyrolysis temperature was between 30 through 900 oC. Three different thermal stages were identified from the DTG curve, and the mass loss during the first stage was attributed to the release of moisture still contained in the feedstock material. The decomposition intensity of MF is higher than that of CF for 5 oC/min while for 10 oC/min, the decomposition intensity of CF was substantially higher than that of MF for 100% MF and 100% CF by weight. For 5 oC/min, as the percentage by mass of CF increased in the sample, the initial temperature increased and final temperature decreased for stage 2 of the thermal stages, which was accompanied by a gradual decrease in weight loss. Although, the blending of MF with CF was found to have significant effects on the thermal behaviour of both feedstocks, due to a better pattern in the feedstocks’ behaviour at 5 oC/min heating rate, it can be deduced that this rate helps to have a better insight into the thermal behaviour of the feedstocks studied. KEY WORDS; mesocarp fibre, bituminous coal, thermogravimetric analysis thermal composition, WORD COUNT; 238