Global kinetics of banana peel combustion

A comparison is made between the thermogravimetric behavior in air of banana peel and wood, always characterized by devolatilization and combustion. Apart from the wider temperature interval, banana peels exhibit two peaks for both the first zone (instead of a shoulder and a peak) and the second zone (instead of a single peak), which can be described by a four-step mechanism. The two devolatization steps require low activation energies (82 and 86kJ/mol), consequent to the presence of a large number of chemical components (starch, sugars, pectin, lipids and proteins, in addition to cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin). The first and chief combustion step is also described by a low activation energy (112kJ/mol) whereas the second one requires an activation energy (180kJ/mol) coincident with that typically estimated for lignocellulosic chars.