MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, DESIGN, ART AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPT. OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
EMT1101: ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS I

EMT1101_PROJECT

A. THERMOGRAVIMETRIC ANALYSIS
Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is one of the most useful techniques used for biomass
characterization in an inert or oxidative atmosphere. TGA enables us to study the combustion
properties and kinetics of any given biomass material or solid fuel. Table 1 gives % weight loss
and corresponding mass loss rate for each temperature reading for a biomass sample.

Table 1: Mass loss (%) and DTG (%/min) for a biomass solid fuel
Temperature Mass DTG
(deg C) loss (%) (%/min)
25 100 0
86 100 0
116 95 0
369 90 -1
537 50 -8
650 42 -2
762 40 -0.75
866 39 -0.5
920 38 -0.4

a) Plot a graph of Mass loss (%) and DTG (%/min) vs temperature on the same graph

b) What are the ignition and burnout temperatures for this fuel?
The ignition temperature and burnout temperature are determined as follows from your
graph:

i. Draw a vertical line through the peak point of the DTG curve to meet the TG
(mass loss vs temperature) curve

ii. Draw a tangent line at the point of intersection (of the DTG and TG curves)

iii. Draw a horizontal line across the graph at the 100 % mass loss point parallel to
the temperature scale (it is the point where the TG curve shows the start of mass
loss).

iv. Read the temperature where tangent line (see ii) crosses this upper horizontal
line. This is the ignition temperature.

v. Draw another horizontal line at the point where the TG curve shows an end to
mass loss.

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 vi. Read the temperature where the tangent line (see ii) crosses the lower horizontal
line. This is the burnout temperature.

c) What is the combustion index for this particular solid fuel?

The combustion index 𝑆𝑁 is an important combustion performance parameter given by:

(𝑑𝛼 ⁄𝑑𝑡)𝑚𝑎𝑥 (𝑑𝛼 ⁄𝑑𝑡)𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛
𝑆𝑁 =
𝑇𝑖2 𝑇𝑓
where, (𝑑𝛼 ⁄𝑑𝑡)𝑚𝑎𝑥 (%/min) is the maximum burning rate; (𝑑𝛼 ⁄𝑑𝑡)𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑚 (%/min) is
the average burning rate; 𝑇𝑖 and 𝑇𝑓 are the ignition and burnout temperatures,
respectively.

d) The mass loss of the biomass sample is used to calculate the conversion rates 𝛼 defined
as:
𝑚 𝑇 − 𝑚𝑓
𝛼 =1−
𝑚0 − 𝑚𝑓
where 𝑚0 and 𝑚𝑓 are the initial and final mass, respectively. 𝑚 𝑇 is the mass at any
given temperature. Plot the graph of 𝛼 versus temperature.

e) Discuss some observations about this biomass fuel

B. KINETIC MODELLING

Read the publication shown in MUELE i.e., Lubwama et al. Pyrolysis kinetics and combustion
characteristics of local firewood species and charcoal produced by slow pyrolysis, Biomass
Conversion and Biorefinery, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-02050-3
From the results and information provided in Section A: Thermogravimetric Analysis, perform
a Coats Redfern Analysis and determine the Activation energy for the fuel given in Section A