Non-isothermal TG/DTG-FTIR kinetic study for devolatilization of Dalbergia sissoo wood under nitrogen atmosphere

The present study deals with chemical characterization and pyrolysis kinetics of Dalbergia sissoo wood (DSW). The characterization of DSW, in terms of proximate, ultimate, biochemical compositions, and TG-FTIR analysis are carried out. FTIR, coupled with TG system, identified the traces of various volatiles such as H₂O, CH₄, CO₂, CO, CH₃CHO, HCHO, CH₃COCH₃, CH₃COOH, HCOOH, and R–OH during pyrolysis. Further, a non-isothermal TG for the pyrolysis of DSW has been performed in a nitrogen atmosphere. The integral isoconversional model-free methods are applied on TG data of DSW to evaluate activation energies at five different heating rates from 5 to 30 °C min⁻¹. The variations in pyrolysis behavior as reflected by the activation energies have been explained based on type of volatiles that gets released with time during the degradation process. The full range of solid-state kinetic models purposed by Malek method produced best fits with TG results, with the 3-D diffusion model followed by random nucleation with three nuclei on the individual particle.