Abstract
Combustion of biomass wastes and solid biofuels obtained from them is a highly preferred and crucial topic in terms of both energy generation and disposal of wastes that cause environmental problems. The objective of this study was to examine the combustion behavior of Aloe vera leaf waste and its biochar samples and to determine the combustion kinetic parameters. The combustion behavior of this waste and biochars at temperatures between 25 and 800 °C and heating rates of 5, 10, 20 and 40 °C min–1 was investigated by thermogravimetric method. The combustion kinetic parameters of these samples were calculated using the Kissinger-Akahira-Sunosa (KAS) and Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) methods. According to the results obtained, since the structure of biomass is more heterogeneous, their combustion mechanism is more complex than that of biochars. The combustion activation energy of Aloe vera wastes was calculated as approximately 285 kJ mol−1, while the activation energy of biochar was calculated as approximately 150 kJ mol−1. According to the kinetic and characterization results obtained, it has been understood that biochar samples are a very suitable source for combustion process and they can be evaluated in combustion or co-combustion systems in the future.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of data and materials
All data used in this study are included in this published article.
Code availability
Not applicable.
References
Agrawal A, Chakraborty S (2013) A kinetic study of pyrolysis and combustion of microalgae Chlorella vulgaris using thermo-gravimetric analysis. Bioresour Technol 128:72–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.10.043
Añibarro-Ortega M, Pinela J, Barros L, Ćirić A, Silva SP, Coelho E, Mocan A, Calhelha RC, Soković M, Coimbra MA, Ferreira ICFR (2019) Compositional features and bioactive properties of aloe vera leaf (Fillet, mucilage, and rind) and flower. Antioxidants. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox8100444
Arauzo PJ, Atienza-Martínez M, Ábrego J, Olszewski MP, Cao Z, Kruse A (2020) Combustion characteristics of hydrochar and pyrochar derived from digested sewage sludge. Energies 13:4164. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13164164
Barzegar R, Yozgatligil A, Atimtay AT (2019) Combustion characteristics of Turkish lignites at oxygen-enriched and oxy-fuel combustion conditions. J Energy Inst 92:1440–1450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joei.2018.08.007
Boumanchar I, Chhiti Y, M’hamdi Alaoui FE, Elkhouakhi M, Sahibed-dine A, Bentiss F, Jama C, Bensitel M (2019) Investigation of (co)-combustion kinetics of biomass, coal and municipal solid wastes. Waste Manag 97:10–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2019.07.033
Brassard P, Godbout S, Lévesque V, Palacios JH, Raghavan V, Ahmed A, Hogue R, Jeanne T, Verma M (2019) Biochar for soil amendment. Char and carbon materials derived from biomass: production characterization and applications. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814893-8.00004-3
Chen T, Cai J, Liu R (2015) Combustion kinetics of biochar from fast pyrolysis of pine sawdust: isoconversional analysis. Energy sources. Part A Recover Util Environ Eff 37:2208–2217. https://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2012.684737
Cheng S, Panthapulakkal S, Sain M, Asiri A (2014) Aloe vera rind cellulose nanofibers-reinforced films. J Appl Polym Sci. https://doi.org/10.1002/app.40592
Demirbaş A (2003) Relationships between heating value and lignin, fixed carbon, and volatile material contents of shells from biomass products. Energy Sour 25:629–635. https://doi.org/10.1080/00908310390212336
Dudziak M, Werle S, Marszałek A, Sobek S, Magdziarz A (2022) Comparative assessment of the biomass solar pyrolysis biochars combustion behavior and zinc Zn(II) adsorption. Energy 261:125360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2022.125360
Fan F, Zheng Y, Huang Y, Lu Y, Wang Z, Chen B, Zheng Z (2017) Combustion kinetics of biochar prepared by pyrolysis of macadamia shells. BioResources 12:3918–3932. https://doi.org/10.15376/biores.12.2.3918-3932
Flynn JH, Wall LA (1966) A quick, direct method for the determination of activation energy from thermogravimetric data. J Polym Sci Part B Polym Lett 4:323–328. https://doi.org/10.1002/pol.1966.110040504
García R, Pizarro C, Lavín AG, Bueno JL (2012) Characterization of Spanish biomass wastes for energy use. Bioresour Technol 103:249–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.10.004
Ghodake GS, Shinde SK, Kadam AA, Saratale RG, Saratale GD, Kumar M, Palem RR, AL-Shwaiman HA, Elgorban AM, Syed A, Kim DY (2021) Review on biomass feedstocks, pyrolysis mechanism and physicochemical properties of biochar: state-of-the-art framework to speed up vision of circular bioeconomy. J Clean Prod. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126645
Giannakoudakis DA, Hosseini-Bandegharaei A, Tsafrakidou P, Triantafyllidis KS, Kornaros M, Anastopoulos I (2018) Aloe vera waste biomass-based adsorbents for the removal of aquatic pollutants: a review. J Environ Manag 227:354–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.08.064
Hasanuzzaman M, Uddin Ahamed K, Khalequzzaman KM, Shamsuzzaman AM, Nahar K (2008) Plant characteristics, growth and leaf yield of aloe vera as affected by organic manure in pot culture. South Cross J 2:158–163
Huang X, Yun S, Zhu J, Du T, Zhang C, Li X (2016) Mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of aloe peel waste with dairy manure in the batch digester: focusing on mixing ratios and digestate stability. Bioresour Technol 218:62–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.06.070
Katubi KM, Amari A, Harharah HN, Eldirderi MM, Tahoon MA, Rebah FB (2021) Aloe vera as promising material for water treatment: a review. Processes. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9050782
Kissinger HE (1957) Reaction kinetics in differential thermal analysis. Anal Chem 29:1702–1706. https://doi.org/10.1021/ac60131a045
Koçer AT, Özçimen D (2021) Determination of combustion characteristics and kinetic parameters of Ulva lactuca and its biochar. Biomass Convers Biorefinery. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-020-01245-4
Koçer AT, Özçimen D (2022) Experimental investigation on thermal behavior and thermo-kinetic study on pyrolysis of de-oiled microalgae. Int J Environ Sci Technol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-03933-2
Koçer AT, Erarslan A, Özçimen D (2023a) Pyrolysis of aloe vera leaf wastes for biochar production: kinetics and thermodynamics analysis. Ind Crops Prod 204:117354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2023.117354
Koçer AT, Özçimen D, Gökalp İ (2023b) An experimental study on the combustion behaviours of orange peel-based solid biofuels. Biomass Convers Biorefinery. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-023-04406-3
Lambert JB, Lightner DA, Shurvell HF, Cooks RG (1987) Introduction to organic spectroscopy. Macmillan
Lee XJ, Lee LY, Hiew BYZ, Gan S, Thangalazhy-Gopakumar S, Ng HK (2020) Valorisation of oil palm wastes into high yield and energy content biochars via slow pyrolysis: multivariate process optimisation and combustion kinetic studies. Mater Sci Energy Technol 3:601–610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mset.2020.06.006
Lee XJ, Ong HC, Gao W, Ok YS, Chen W-H, Goh BHH, Chong CT (2021) Solid biofuel production from spent coffee ground wastes: process optimisation, characterisation and kinetic studies. Fuel 292:120309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2021.120309
Liu Y, He Z, Uchimiya M (2015) Comparison of biochar formation from various agricultural by-products using FTIR spectroscopy. Mod Appl Sci. https://doi.org/10.5539/mas.v9n4p246
Liu H, Zhang S, Feng S, Jia C, Guo S, Sun B, Wang Q (2021) Combustion characteristics and typical pollutant emissions of corn stalk blending with municipal sewage sludge. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28:9792–9805. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11463-y
Meez E, Hosseini-Bandegharaei A, Rahdar A, Thysiadou A, Matis KA, Kyzas GZ (2021) Synthetic oil-spills decontamination by using sawdust and activated carbon from aloe vera as absorbents. Biointerface Res Appl Chem 11:11778–11796. https://doi.org/10.33263/BRIAC114.1177811796
Mian I, Li X, Dacres OD, Wang J, Wei B, Jian Y, Zhong M, Liu J, Ma F, Rahman N (2020) Combustion kinetics and mechanism of biomass pellet. Energy 205:117909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.117909
Naktiyok J, Bayrakçeken H, Özer AK, Gülaboğlu MŞ (2017) Investigation of combustion kinetics of umutbaca-lignite by thermal analysis technique. J Therm Anal Calorim 129:531–539. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-017-6149-z
Nhuchhen DR (2016) Prediction of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen compositions of raw and torrefied biomass using proximate analysis. Fuel 180:348–356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2016.04.058
Ozawa T (1965) A new method of analyzing thermogravimetric data. Bull Chem Soc Jpn 38:1881–1886. https://doi.org/10.1246/bcsj.38.1881
Özçimen D, İnan B, Akış S, Koçer AT (2015) Utilization alternatives of algal wastes for solid algal products. In: Prokop A, Bajpai RK, Zappi ME (eds) Algal biorefineries volume products and refinery design. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20200-6_12
Parikh J, Channiwala SA, Ghosal GK (2005) A correlation for calculating HHV from proximate analysis of solid fuels. Fuel 84:487–494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2004.10.010
Peterson CA, Brown RC (2020) Oxidation kinetics of biochar from woody and herbaceous biomass. Chem Eng J 401:126043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.126043
Poomsawat S, Poomsawat W (2021) Analysis of hydrochar fuel characterization and combustion behavior derived from aquatic biomass via hydrothermal carbonization process. Case Stud Therm Eng. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2021.101255
Prajapati AK, Das S, Mondal MK (2020) Exhaustive studies on toxic Cr(VI) removal mechanism from aqueous solution using activated carbon of aloe vera waste leaves. J Mol Liq. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2020.112956
Rajeswari G, Jacob S (2020) Deciphering the aloe vera leaf rind as potent feedstock for bioethanol through enzymatic delignification and its enhanced saccharification. Ind Crops Prod. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2019.111876
Ross AB, Jones JM, Kubacki ML, Bridgeman T (2008) Classification of macroalgae as fuel and its thermochemical behaviour. Bioresour Technol 99:6494–6504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2007.11.036
Sakhiya AK, Anand A, Kaushal P (2020) Production, activation, and applications of biochar in recent times. Biochar. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42773-020-00047-1
Singh P, Hundal JS, Patra AK, Wadhwa M, Sharma A (2021) Sustainable utilization of Aloe vera waste in the diet of lactating cows for improvement of milk production performance and reduction of carbon footprint. J Clean Prod. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125118
van Loo S, Koppejan J (2012) The handbook of biomass combustion and co-firing. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781849773041
Vyazovkin S, Wight CA (1999) Model-free and model-fitting approaches to kinetic analysis of isothermal and nonisothermal data. Thermochim Acta 340–341:53–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-6031(99)00253-1
Vyazovkin S, Burnham AK, Criado JM, Pérez-Maqueda LA, Popescu C, Sbirrazzuoli N (2011) ICTAC kinetics committee recommendations for performing kinetic computations on thermal analysis data. Thermochim Acta 520:1–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tca.2011.03.034
Wei J, Wang M, Li B, Song X, Yu G, Zhang J, Zhang H, Xu D (2023) Synergy mechanism of biochar and petcoke co-combustion based on potassium migration and transformation. Fuel Process Technol 250:1079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2023.107927
Yang G, Liu Y, Gao L, Su Y (2022) Investigation of the synergistic effect and kinetic behavior of anthracite and biochar during co-combustion process in pure oxygen atmosphere. J Energy Inst 101:1–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joei.2021.12.005
Yu Y, Fu X, Yu L, Liu R, Cai J (2016) Combustion kinetics of pine sawdust biochar. J Therm Anal Calorim 124:1641–1649. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-016-5296-y
Yu KL, Show PL, Ong HC, Ling TC, Chen WH, Salleh MAM (2018) Biochar production from microalgae cultivation through pyrolysis as a sustainable carbon sequestration and biorefinery approach. Clean Technol Environ Policy 20:2047–2055. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-018-1521-7
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Azime Erarslan who provided the samples and Didem Özçimen who provided laboratory facilities.
Funding
No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
No competing interests.
Ethical approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Consent for participate
Not applicable.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This peer reviewed research paper belongs to the Topical Collection originated from the conference held in Rome, March 27−28, 2023, promoted by Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and Fondazione Guido Donegani on Chemical Kinetics at Micro-, Meso-, Bioscales, dedicated to Giangualberto Volpi (1928−2017, Linceo from 1994)
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Koçer, A.T. A thermokinetic characterization study on combustion of solid biofuels from Aloe vera residue. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 34, 1031–1043 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-023-01195-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-023-01195-9