Thermal decomposition kinetics of sweet sorghum bagasse analysed by model free methods, Journal of the Energy Institute, Volume 84, Number 4, p1-4

The iterative linear integral model free method proposed by Cai and Chen (J. Cai and S. Chen: J. Comput. Chem., 2009, 30, 1986-1991.) and the non-linear method proposed by Vyazovkin and Dollimore (S. Vyazovkin and D. Dollimore: J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci., 1996, 36, 42-45.) have been used for the estimation of the activation energy values of the thermal decomposition of sweet sorghum bagasse. Applied to the non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis data on the thermal decomposition of sweet sorghum bagasse, the model free methods yield the resultant activation energy values that depend on the degree of conversion. The effective activation energy values vary from 150 to 220 kJ mol-1 in the conversion range of 0·15-0·85 for the thermal decomposition of sweet sorghum bagasse.