Pyrolysis performance of peat moss: A simultaneous in-situ thermal analysis and bench-scale experimental study

• Published in: Fuel (Guildford) Vol. 277; p. 118173
• Main Authors: Wen, Yuming, Wang, Shule, Mu, Wangzhong, Yang, Weihong, Jönsson, Pär G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2020; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Carbon; Carbon storage; Differential thermal analysis; Emission; Greenhouse effect; Greenhouse gases; Kinetic analysis; Mosses; Peat; Peat moss; Peatlands; Pyrolysis; Room temperature; Thermal analysis; Thermal decomposition; Pyrolysis; Kinetic analysis; Thermal analysis; Peat moss; Carbon storage
• ISSN: 0016-2361; 1873-7153; 1873-7153
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2020.118173

•Peat moss pyrolysis is a six-stage reaction from 25 to 900 ℃.•KAS and CR methods are used to analyze the kinetic characteristics.•The HHV of gas produced has the maximum value at 600 ℃ (15.22 MJ/Nm3).•Less than 20% of carbon transformed into gas products. Peat moss in drained peatlands has become a non-negligible source of greenhouse gases (GHG) emission. Pyrolysis is a potential technique to convert carbon-emitting peat moss to carbon-storage materials. This work investigates the behavior of peat moss pyrolysis by a combined in-situ thermal analysis and bench-scale pyrolysis experiment methodology. The simultaneous thermal analyzer, which provides the simultaneous TG/DTA analysis, was employed to reveal the thermal decomposition behavior of peat moss. The samples were heated up to 900 °C with different heating rates of 10, 15, and 20 °C/min. Thereafter, pyrolysis experiments with peak temperatures of 450, 500, 550 and 600 °C were performed in a bench-scale pyrolyzer. It was found that there are four main stages and two micro stages of mass loss during peat moss pyrolysis from room temperature to 900 °C. Also, kinetic parameters were calculated based on the results of TG and DTG by the Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) method and the Coats-Redfern (CR) method. In the bench-scale pyrolysis experiments, four phases, i.e., char, tar, aqueous phase, and gas, were obtained and characterized. The carbon distribution and the GHG emission from peat moss pyrolysis were determined.