Reaction kinetics of paddy husk thermal decomposition

Paddy husk production in world is estimated to be around 80 million tons. It has a calorific value of 15 MJ/kg and thus has a tremendous potential as a renewable energy source. Its current uses are: cattle feed, raw material for paper and board, furfural production and silica industries. A large quantity of paddy husk is used in husk fired boiler furnaces at a very low efficiency. For efficient design of husk fired furnaces, reliable data on thermal characteristics of rice husk is essential which is lacking in the literature. In the present study, paddy husk was subjected to thermogravimetric analysis at heating rates of 10 and 100/spl deg/C/min. in a thermal analyzer. The analysis was carried out in air and mixture of oxygen and nitrogen (5:95%) atmosphere. Reaction kinetic parameters such as activation energy, frequency factor and order of reaction have been evaluated and reported. These are relevant to the design of paddy husk fired gasifiers, furnaces and other thermochemical conversion equipment. The results of the thermochemical studies and their potential applications are presented in the paper.