Effect of Applying Organic Amendments on the Pyrolytic Behavior of a Poplar Energy Crop

Thermal conversion of biomass derived from energy crops is one alternative for the production of energy. In this work, thermogravimetric analysis of poplar biomass was carried out and both the kinetic parameters (activation energy and frequency factor) and characteristic indexes were determined. Four poplar clones (UNAL, I-214, AF-2 and AF-8) under no fertilization (CONTROL) or under fertilization with either dehydrated composted sewage sludge (BIOSOLIDS) or sludge from dairy wastewater treatment (MUD) were used in this work. Five weight loss stages were identified in the DTG pyrolysis curves: moisture loss, active pyrolysis (two phases), passive pyrolysis and a high-rank pyrolysis phase. Among them, the second pyrolysis active phase was the most representative one. For this stage, BIOSOLIDS-UNAL poplars biomass was the one that achieved the highest weight loss values. The characteristic parameters and indexes (especially P and P_i indexes) also pointed to UNAL poplars under BIOSOLIDS fertilization as the most favourable for pyrolytic thermal conversion.