Non-isothermal versus isothermal technique to evaluate kinetic parameters of coal pyrolysis

In this paper, the application of the non-isothermal versus the isothermal technique to evaluate kinetics parameters of coal pyrolysis is discussed. The same reaction model (multiple parallel independent, MPI with distribution activation energies, DAE) is assumed and the same data treatment is applied with the aim of attributing the differences to the experimental technique used. The evolution of the total volatiles and individual gaseous species in the pyrolysis of two low-rank coals has been evaluated. Kinetic parameters obtained by using non-isothermal treatment agree with the parameters found in the literature. The non-isothermal technique (with constant heating rate) has been confirmed as a powerful tool to study the kinetics of coal pyrolysis. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.