Thermogravimetric analysis of the rapeseed cake

In this paper, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to determine the t hermal behavior of the rapeseed cake. The thermal degradation of the rapese ed cake was studied in an inert (N-2) atmosphere from the ambient temperatu re to a temperature of 650 degrees C at two different heating rates (10-25 degrees C min(-1)) in order to see the effect of the heating rate on therma l degradation in a nitrogen atmosphere. Active and passive zones were obser ved on the TGA curves. Approximately the entire thermal degradation occurre d in the active zone. By applying thermoanalytical techniques to reaction k inetics, the order of reaction, pre-exponential factor, and activation ener gy were determined from the thermogravimetric curves.