Paper Title
Non-Isothermal Kinetic Studies of Triplochiton Scleroxylon (African White Wood) Sawdust Using Thermogrvimetry

Abstract
The Triplochiton scleroxylon (African white wood) sawdust obtained from Nigeria was evaluated for its biofuels potential and its kinetic degradation behavior using thermogravimetric technique. The decomposition of the sawdust was carried out in nitrogen atmosphere with a flow rate of 10cm3min-1 from ambient temperature to 900�C. The results of the thermal profile shows that an active and passive pyrolysis occurred between the temperatures of 200 and 400oC with lower heating rates and between 200-800oC with high heating rate The kinetic parameters such as activation energy, pre-exponential factor and reaction order were determined using Friedman (FD), Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS), and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) methods. The average apparent activation energy values of 126.42, 126.47 and 129.83 kJmol-1 were calculated using FD, KAS, and FWO models respectively. The activation energy values obtained were depended on conversion, which is an evidence of multi-steps kinetic processes during the pyrolytic degradation of the sawdust. The kinetic data would be of immense benefit to model, design and develop thermo-chemical system for the conversion of the sawdust to fuel.