Thermo-kinetics and gaseous product analysis of banana peel pyrolysis for its bioenergy potential

Highlights: • Pyrolytic kinetic and gaseous products of banana peel were investigated. • Banana peel showed bioenergy potential in terms of E_a, HHV, and Py-GC/MS analysis. • Relative content of gas product was more affected by temperature than heating rate. • Its energy input and output was comparable with other established feedstocks. -- Abstract: This study illustrated the pyrolysis of banana peel (BP) as a potential waste management solution. Samples were characterized through Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), elemental analysis, and high heating value (HHV) calculation. After pyrolysis experiments were performed at different heating rates (10, 20, 30, and 40 °C min⁻¹) by using a thermogravimetric analyzer coupled with FTIR (TG-FTIR), the apparent activation energies were computed with Friedman, Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS), and Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) methods, and the evolved gaseous products were analyzed simultaneously. During pyrolysis, BP underwent three devolatilization steps accompanied by the evolution of some major gaseous products, including CO₂, CH₄, H₂O, CH₃COOH, CC, C₆H₅OH, HCOOH, and CH₃CH₂OH. Among them, CC, CH₃COOH, and CO₂ accounted for approximately 71.56% of the total gaseous products. Gas evolution was more significantly influenced by the pyrolysis temperature than by the heating rate. Pyrolysis–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) analysis confirmed the presence of some high-energy compounds and valuable chemicals containing aromatic, aldehyde, ketone, and other functional groups. In terms of preliminary energy balance, more than 70% of the total energy output was attributed to the liquid pyrolytic products followed by the solid and gaseous products. The energy recovery ratio of BP pyrolysis was superior to that of other fuel feedstocks. This work provided insights into resolving environmental problems associated with BP management by pyrolyzing BP as a potential source of renewable bioenergy.