Effect of demineralization on the physiochemical structure and thermal degradation of acid treated indigenous rice husk

Energy generation from biomass presents some serious problems like slagging, fouling and corrosion of boilers. To address these problems, demineralization of biomass is performed using different leaching agents. This study is focused on determining the influence of leaching agents and leaching time on the physiochemical structure of rice husk during demineralization. Dilute (5% wt) solutions of HCl and H₂SO₄ were used for the demineralization of rice husk separately with leaching time of 15, 60 and 120 minutes. It is shown that H₂SO₄ exhibited higher removal of alkali and alkaline earth metals (AAEM) comparatively as depicted by the 34.2% decrease in ash content along with an increase of 7.10% in the heating value. The acid has been seen to induce more notable changes in physiochemical structure as depicted by the FTIR spectra and SEM micrographs. The thermal degradation behavior of the demineralized rice husk has also been reported.