Pyrolysis of oleaster seed under non-isothermal conditions to assess as bioenergy potential: Kinetic, thermodynamic and master plot analyses

This study aims to evaluate the bioenergy potential of oleaster seed (OS) and to determine the pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics required for the efficient design and optimization of thermochemical processes for bioenergy production. To achieve this, the pyrolysis processes of OS were extensively analyzed using the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) method. Thermogravimetric analyses were conducted in a nitrogen (N2) atmosphere at heating rates of 5, 10, 15, and 20 K min-1, from room temperature up to 1173 K. Through these analyses, the decomposition behavior and bioenergy potential of OS were evaluated. For kinetic analysis, various iso-conversion models, including Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO), Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS), Starink, and Tang, were employed to calculate kinetic parameters such as activation energy and pre-exponential factor, as well as thermodynamic parameters like enthalpy (Delta H), entropy (Delta S), and Gibbs free energy (Delta G). To determine the reaction mechanism, the Coats-Redfern (CR) method and the master plot approach were utilized. The most suitable model to describe the pyrolytic decomposition process is the chemical kinetics model (F3).