A Logistic Approach for Kinetics of Isothermal Pyrolysis of Cellulose

A kinetic model is proposed to fit isothermal thermogravimetric data obtained from cellulose in an inert atmosphere at different temperatures. The method used here to evaluate the model involves two steps: (1) fitting of single time-derivative thermogravimetric curves (DTG) obtained at different temperatures versus time, and (2) fitting of the rate parameter values obtained at different temperatures versus temperature. The first step makes use of derivative of logistic functions. For the second step, the dependence of the rate factor on temperature is evaluated. That separation of the curve fitting from the analysis of the rate factor resulted to be very flexible since it proved to work for previous crystallization studies and now for thermal degradation of cellulose.

Automated summary

A kinetic model was proposed to fit isothermal thermogravimetric data of cellulose at different temperatures in an inert atmosphere. The method involves fitting single time-derivative thermogravimetric curves and rate parameter values obtained at different temperatures separately, demonstrating its flexibility and effectiveness in fitting studies.