2. Experimental study
The wet leaves samples were cut directly from the banana tree
and the semi-dried samples were obtained from leaves that had
fallen from the banana tree and were already undergoing a natural
degradation process. The samples were grinded and sieved to produce
particles less than 2.5 mm in size, according ASTM E828-81.
To correlate the respective composition with the thermal
behavior of the biomass under characterization, chemical and
physical analysis were performed. The heating value of biomass
and the conditions for thermochemical conversion of biomass by
pyrolysis and combustion are highly correlated with the content
of ash, moisture, volatiles and lignocellulosic content including
the elemental composition of carbon, hydrogen, sulfur and oxygen.
The proximate analysis was performed on the biomass samples
for the determination of moisture, volatile matter, ash and fixed
carbon contents following the ASTM standardized procedures.
The moisture content was determined as the weight loss in a stove
at 103 C using the procedures given in ASTM E871-82. The volatile