Kinetic and mechanism of the thermal degradation of a plywood by using thermogravimetry and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy analysis in nitrogen and air atmosphere

The thermal degradation of plywood was investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) device. The TGA experiments were conducted between ambient temperature and 1000 degrees C for seven different heating rates: 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 and 50 degrees C min(-1). The experiments were realized under inert and air atmospheres in order to characterize the plywood thermal decomposition occurring during the pyrolysis and oxidative processes. Throughout all the tests, the gaseous emissions were continuously monitored using a Fourier transformed infra-red spectrometer (FTIR). The progress in the mass, the mass-loss rate (MLR) and gas emissions data allow to propose a mechanism of the thermal decomposition of plywood with six different stages. The reactions (stages) of this mechanism is of a rate represented by a modified Arrhenius law containing four unknown kinetic parameters (A, E-a, n and v) for each reaction. These 24 unknown parameters are determined by using the inverse optimization method of the genetic algorithms. The model developed is validated regardless of the heating rate and atmosphere (inert or air) chosen. A very good agreement is obtained between the experimental and the numerical mass loss rate evolutions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.