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Bioresource Technology

• A comprehensive study of pyrolysis of Almond (Prunus amygdalus ) shells. • Detailed characterization using CHNS, FTIR, FE-SEM and EDX. • Kinetic and thermodynamic study using iso -conversional modeling methods. • Validation of the experimental data through ANN simulation. • Energy valorization of biomass waste through comparative studies. The aim of this work was to study the thermogravimetric analysis through the pyrolysis of almond (Prunus amygdalus ) shells for evaluating its potential for bioenergy at different heating rates (10, 25, and 50 K min −1 ). The activation energy values for the process were of the range of 153.0, 152.02, and 152.73 kJ mol −1 as calculated by Kissenger-Akahira-Sunrose (KAS), Ozawa-Flynn-Wall (OFW) and Starink models respectively. The change in the Gibbs free energy was ~181 kJ mol −1 . Diffusion-based reaction, followed by the chemical reaction mechanism,was dominant thermal degradation as envisaged by the Coats-Redfern method. The validation of the experiments was accomplished through the artificial neural network, reiterating its further usage in any conversional studies of biomass. A difference of < 10 kJ mol −1 between the values of activation energy and enthalpy of the degradation reaction indicated favourable product formation. The results offer potential application of almond shells for energy production through pyrolysis.

Pyrolysis of almond (Prunus amygdalus) shells: Kinetic analysis, modelling, energy assessment and technical feasibility studies