Sensitivity analysis of three-parallel-DAEM-reaction model for describing rice straw pyrolysis

The three-parallel-DAEM-reaction model was used to study the slow pyrolysis kinetics of rice straw based on thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) data. The kinetic parameters of the model were calculated using the pattern search method. A comparison between the predicted DTG data and experimental values showed good agreement. The influences of the kinetic parameters on the model for describing the experimental data of rice straw were analyzed by means of local parametric sensitivity analysis. The results indicated that the frequency factor and the mean value of the activation distribution for cellulose decomposition affect the model more strongly than other parameters, followed by the corresponding parameters for hemicellulose and lignin. The sensitivity of the model to the standard deviations of the activation energy distributions for all pseudocomponents is very slight. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.