Quantifying thermal decomposition regimes of textile dyeing sludge, pomelo peel, and their blends

Thermal decomposition behaviors of textile dyeing sludge (TDS), pomelo peel (PP), and their blends (TP) were detected using TG-FTIR. The blend ratios of TDS to PP ranged from 10 to 40 wt% and were subjected to heat above room temperature up to 1000 °C under four heating rates. Our results pointed to four stages for TDS combustion and three stages for PP combustion. The interactions between TDS and PP exerted inhibitive effects during the co-combustion process. Releases of CO2 and light organics occurred less with a TP ratio of 70%-30% (TP73) than with the individual fuels. Apparent activation energy (Ea) was obtained using Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) methods. The FWO-based Ea estimates were in the range of 59.7-122.2 kJ·mol−1 for TDS, 84.4-243.5 kJ·mol−1 for PP, and 94.3-142.1 kJ·mol−1 for TP73.