Non-isothermal pyrolysis of cashew shell cake-bituminous coal blends

This paper describes the non-isothermal pyrolysis of cashew shell cake (CSC)-bituminous coal blends. The blends exhibit two distinct stages in the thermogravimetric curves, which the first stage stems from CSC and the second one from the superposition of CSC and coal pyrolysis. The pyrolysis behavior of the blend was linearly proportional to the blending ratios. The overall behavior of the blends was evaluated in terms of the maximum rate of weight loss, characteristic temperatures, char yields, and the calculated and experimental thermogravimetric curves. The activation energies ranged up to 49 kJ/mol for the blends were obtained and used to evaluate the interaction in the blends. The present thermogravimetric study shows that there is no significant interaction between CSC and coal in the blends, and it was supported by the characteristic values which are linearly proportional to the weight percentages of cashew cake-shell in the blends. The no-interaction might be due to the fact that the main reaction zones are distinctively different for two constituents, so the additive rule is acceptable for describing pyrolysis behavior of the present blends.