Thermogravimetric kinetics of decomposition reaction of acacia wood wastes using concrete waste catalyst / Nurul Nabilah Binti Zahari

Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology

Final Year Report (Bachelor of Chemical Engineering ) -- Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah - 2025

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This research investigates the thermal decomposition behavior of Acacia wood with and without concrete waste catalyst using Thermogravimetric Analyzer through both non-isothermal and isothermal processes, alongside the characterization of a concrete waste catalyst. The concrete catalyst were characterized using Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA) to identify the thermal stability and decomposition, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to analyze the chemical functional groups, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) to identify the crystallographic structure and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to identify the surface structure. The weight loss of Acacia wood in an inert atmosphere occurred in three distinct stages, corresponding to the decomposition of the three main components of lignocellulosic material: hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin. The decomposition temperature for Acacia wood sample with and without catalyst were observed from non-isothermal TGA then the range of temperature was used in isothermal TGA to determine the kinetics parameters. The rate costant, per-exponential factor and activation energy for all sample at each decomposition temperature were analyzed using Sigma Plot software and then reported in this study. The finding shows the decomposition rate of acacia wood with concrete catalyst is higher than the reaction of acacia wood without catalyst. It was proven by the kinetics parameters of Acacia wood with concrete catalyst by lowering the activation energy at 13509.4189 J/mol compared to the Acacia wood without catalyst at 42786.3382 J/mol that required more energy to get higher decomposition rate.