Two-step consecutive reaction model of biomass thermal decomposition by DSC

The thermal decomposition of one kind of biomass in air has been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyzer. The results indicate that the heating process of samples from ambient temperature to 923 K at low heating rates show two obvious exothermic peaks. According to the decomposition mechanism, the first exothermic step is attributed to oxidative degradation of hemicellulose and cellulose, and the second exothermic step is attributed to lignin degradation and char oxidation. The reaction model of the studied biomass thermal decomposition has been studied by iso-conversional methods and optimization computation. The results suggest that the two-step consecutive reaction model is suitable to describe the exotherm of biomass thermal decomposition in air.