The Status of Pyrolysis Kinetics Studies by Thermal Analysis: Quality Is Not as Good as It Should and Can Readily Be

Abstract

This paper is a literature survey that focuses on the present development of thermokinetic publications. It demonstrates that in recent years pyrolysis kinetics has turned into a major application of the thermokinetics. Analysis of the respective publications suggests that too often their quality leaves much to be desired because of the poor choices of the kinetic methods and experimental conditions. It is explained that the proper choices can be made by following the recommendations of the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (ICTAC). To help with improving the quality of the kinetic results, the ICTAC recommendations are condensed to a few easy to follow principles. These principles focus on selecting proper computational methods, collecting better experimental data, and efficiently reporting the results. The paramount computational principle is to avoid using the methods that evaluate the activation energy and other kinetic parameters from the data measured at a single heating rate. It is shown that the kinetic parameters evaluated by such methods can give rise to striking examples of failure when estimating the thermal stability at ambient temperature. Because of the vital importance of pyrolysis kinetics studies from an ecological and economical perspective, a substantial improvement of their quality is currently needed.