Determination of hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin content in different types of biomasses by thermogravimetric analysis and pseudocomponent kinetic model (TGA-PKM method)

Abstract

The standard method for determining the biomass composition, in terms of main lignocellulosic fraction (hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin) contents, is by chemical method; however, it is a slow and expensive methodology, which requires complex techniques and the use of multiple chemical reagents. The main objective of this article is to provide a new efficient, low-cost and fast method for the determination of the main lignocellulosic fraction contents of different types of biomasses from agricultural by-products to softwoods and hardwoods. The method is based on applying deconvolution techniques on the derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) pyrolysis curves obtained by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) through a kinetic approach based on a pseudocomponent kinetic model (PKM). As a result, the new method (TGA-PKM) provides additional information regarding the ease of carrying out their degradation in comparison with other biomasses. The results obtained show a good agreement between experimental data from analytical procedures and the TGA-PKM method (±7%). This indicates that the TGA-PKM method can be used to have a good estimation of the content of the main lignocellulosic fractions without the need to carry out complex extraction and purification chemical treatments. In addition, the good quality of the fit obtained between the model and experimental DTG curves (R2Adj = 0.99) allows to obtain the characteristic kinetic parameters of each fraction.