Characterization of Spirogyra sp. Using Thermogravimetric/ Derivative Thermogravimetric (TG/DTG) Analysis and Bomb Calorimeter for Energy Application

Biomass is usually considered as different types of lignocellulosic materials having varied composition potential to utilize in the useful forms of energy as a substitute of conventional fossil fuels. Algal biomass has multi facet application in research and development such as source of nutrients, biochemical, cosmetics and biofuels. However, this newly developed energy source met the requirement of low and medium scale power generation due to low thermal efficiency. In present study, freshwater algae Spirogyra sp. taken as source of biomass and analyzed for Thermogravimetric (TG) and calorific values analysis. We found the calorific value is 2129.4 Kcal/Kg and TGA results show that algal biomass decrease rapidly after reaching the temperature over 300°C. The result obtained in this paper may be used in future as reference material for algae based biomass for energy application.