Thermogravimetric analysis of the rapeseed cake

In this paper, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to determine the thermal behavior of the rapeseed cake. The thermal degradation of the rapeseed cake was studied in an inert (N₂) atmosphere from the ambient temperature to a temperature of 650°C at two different heating rates (10-25°C min^-1) in order to see the effect of the heating rate on thermal degradation in a nitrogen atmosphere. Active and passive zones were observed on the TGA curves. Approximately the entire thermal degradation occurred in the active zone. By applying thermoanalytical techniques to reaction kinetics, the order of reaction, pre-exponential factor, and activation energy were determined from the thermogravimetric curves.