Multicomponent Pyrolysis Model for Thermogravimetric Analysis of Phenolic Ablators and Lignocellulosic Biomass

A multicomponent kinetic mechanism has been developed for the pyrolysis at low heating rate of carbon/phenolic thermal protection material and a wood species. An experimental campaign has been carried out using thermogravimetric analysis to study the mass loss under different conditions of crucible (with or without a lid) and heating rate for both materials. Using a pierced lid to cover the crucible during pyrolysis promotes char production compared with the case of open crucible. Kinetic parameters were then extracted from the experiments by an optimization approach using an in-house-developed kinetic identification code. The parameters recovered for the two applications allow to reproduce accurately the mass loss evolution.