Isothermal Kinetic Analysis of Thermal Decomposition of Woody Biomass: the Thermogravimetric Study

The thermal decomposition of pellets made from residual processing spruce wood (Picea abies) was studied under isothermal conditions by the thermogravimetric analysis. The reaction model and Arrhenius parameters, i.e. apparent activation energy (E-a) and pre-exponential factor A, were calculated from thermogravimetric experiments in the temperature range of (275-290) degrees C. The results show, that the thermal decomposition is controlled by the rate of the first order chemical reaction. Values of apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor determined from the Arrhenius-type plot are 124 kJ.mol(-1) and 1.89x10(8) s(-1), respectively.