Thermogravimetric Analysis on Combustion Behavior of Marine Microalgae Spirulina Platensis Induced by MgCO3 and Al2O3 Additives
Corresponding email: sukarni.ft@um.ac.id
Published at : 25 Nov 2019
Volume : IJtech
Vol 10, No 6 (2019)
DOI : https://doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v10i6.3611
Sukarni, S., Sumarli, S., Nauri, I.M., Prasetiyo, A., Puspitasari, P., 2019. Thermogravimetric Analysis on Combustion Behavior of Marine Microalgae Spirulina Platensis Induced by MgCO3 and Al2O3 Additives. International Journal of Technology. Volume 10(6), pp. 1174-1183
| Sukarni Sukarni | -Department of Mechanical Engineering, State University of Malang, Semarang Street 5, Malang 65145, Indonesia -Centre of Advanced Materials for Renewable Energy, State University of Malang, Semarang |
| Sumarli Sumarli | Department of Mechanical Engineering, State University of Malang, Semarang Street 5, Malang 65145, Indonesia |
| Imam Muda Nauri | Department of Mechanical Engineering, State University of Malang, Semarang Street 5, Malang 65145, Indonesia |
| Ardianto Prasetiyo | Master Program of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School, State University of Malang, Semarang Street 5, Malang 65145, Indonesia |
| Poppy Puspitasari | -Department of Mechanical Engineering, State University of Malang, Semarang Street 5, Malang 65145, Indonesia -Centre of Advanced Materials for Renewable Energy, State University of Malang, Semarang |
The impact of MgCO3 and Al2O3
additives on the thermal behavior of Spirulina platensis (SP) biomass
during combustion in a thermal analyzer was evaluated to understand their
catalytic effect in the decomposition process. The samples were pure SP and a
mixture of SP and additives at mass fractions of 3, 6, and 9 (wt,%). Each
sample of around 8.5 mg was mounted in a thermobalance and subjected to a
furnace on a heating program of 10oC/min. The 100 ml/min air
atmosphere was kept continuously flowing during the combustion process from
30–1200oC. The thermal behavior of the sample was then characterized
from the thermogravimetric (TG) and derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) curves,
those were recorded by a computer during the experiment. The Horowitz–Metzger
method was used to evaluate the impact of additives on the kinetic parameters
of the samples. The results indicated that the presence of additives shifted
the main decomposition stage toward a lesser temperature. The rate of mass loss
(ML) in the main decomposition zone decreased in the 1st peak and
increased in the 2nd, in accordance with the increase in the
fraction of additives. This indicates that additives play different roles
during the decomposition process. The mass mean activation energy (Em)
increased at the additive fraction of 3% for both MgCO3 and Al2O3,
as well as at 6% MgCO3 compared to combustion with no additives.
Conversely, the presence of greater additives promoted a shift in Em
toward smaller values. These results confirm that both additives significantly
influenced the thermal behavior and kinetics of the SP combustion.
Additives; Combustion; Microalgae; Spirulina platensis; Thermogravimetry
Global energy demand is estimated to show a continuous increase of
around a third by 2040 (BP Energy Outlook, 2018); conversely, there is a rapid depletion of
fossil-based reserves (Sukarni et al.,
2017). This situation has prompted the exploration of
alternative energy sources, and biomass has received increasing interest (Purwanto et al., 2015; Ghatak & Mahanta,
2017; Wahyudi et al., 2018). Among the various biomass-based fuels, aquatic
microorganisms have attracted attention due to their extensive spread across
the globe, high efficiency during the photosynthetic process, ability to
rapidly multiply their biomass,
non-dependence on land, thus creating
no interference
Various techniques for converting microalgae to energy have previously
been performed, including biochemical conversions such as digestion (Passos et al., 2014) and fermentation (Hossain et al., 2015), as well as thermochemical conversions such as pyrolysis, gasification,
liquefaction, and combustion (Sanchez-Silva et al., 2013; Sukarni et
al., 2015, 2018a, 2018b; Viju et al., 2018). Combustion
is the most important choice owing to the ease of transferring heat to energy
using currently available technological devices. The combustion method accounts
for over 97% of the world’s bioenergy production (Demirbas, 2004).
Several studies on
microalgae direct combustion have been performed previously. Combustion of Nannochloropsis
oculata (Sukarni et al., 2015), Nannochloropsis
gaditana (Sanchez-Silva et al., 2013), Chlorella
vulgaris (Chen et al., 2011), and Scenedesmus
almeriensis (López et al., 2013) revealed the
diverse range of thermal behavior among the species. These differences in their
thermal behavior were strongly thought to derive from variances in their
organic matter and the mineral compounds that made up the compartment of each
species. Differences in the major components of algal biomass, i.e., protein,
carbohydrate, and lipid, affect thermal behavior because each component has a
different thermal degradation. From the different literature, it was also
understood that the mineral content of algal biomass highly determined its ash
content (Chen et al., 2014) and that this
would significantly affect its decomposition behavior due to its catalytic
effect during thermal degradation (Gai et al., 2015). However, the
catalytic effect of each mineral compound on microalgal combustion has yet to
be reported by scholars.
This paper presents
the catalytic effect of MgCO3 and Al2O3
additives on the thermal behavior of Spirulina platensis (SP) biomass
during oxidative-thermal degradation under thermal analyzer equipment. The
characteristic temperatures were determined according to the thermogravimetric
(TG) and derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) curves. The Horowitz–Metzger
fitting method was applied to evaluate the kinetic parameters in terms of
activation energies, frequency factors, and reaction orders.
The catalytic effects
of MgCO3 and Al2O3 in the decomposition
process of Spirulina platensis during combustion have been studied using
a thermal analyzer on a heating program of 10oC/min. In the main
decomposition and combustion zone, it was found that the presence of MgCO3
and Al2O3 inhibited the thermal degradation of
carbohydrates and protein, and slowed down their rate of thermal degradation.
Increasing the mass ratio of MgCO3 and Al2O3
up to 6% induced severe thermal degradation of lipids. The addition of MgCO3
and Al2O3 up to a 6% mass ratio had a positive
impact on microalgal thermal conversion mainly at temperatures above 200 oC
and below 340oC, whereas the addition of 9% of both additives was
not recommended as they made little contribution to enhancing the thermal
conversion process. The presence of
additives led to an increase in activation energies of up to 4.83 kJ/mol, thus
indicating that the presence of additives might increase the entire reaction
time. Similarly, the additives influenced the increasing frequency factors. The
change in both kinetic parameters (activation energies and frequency factors) confirmed that the thermal
conversion dynamics of the material had also been changed due to the presence
of additives.
This research is supported by the Directorate of Research and Community
Services, Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education, Government of
Indonesia under the scheme of “Penelitian Dasar Unggulan Perguruan Tinggi”
2019, with grant number 19.3.82/UN32.14.1/LT/2019.
| Filename | Description |
|---|---|
| R1-ME-3611-20191023063115.jpg | 04. Figure 1 TG-DTG curves of the SP and its mixture |
| R1-ME-3611-20191023063203.jpg | 05. Figure 2 Magnification of TG-DTG curves |
| R1-ME-3611-20191023063500.jpg | 06. Figure 3 The incremental mass loss after addition of additives into the SP |
| R1-ME-3611-20191023063820.jpg | 07. Figure 4 The Horowitz–Metzger parameters |
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