Analysis of the vaporization process in TG apparatus and its incidence in pyrolysis

An analysis of the evaporation process of n-hexadecane in a thermogravimetric apparatus was carried out. n-Hexadecane represents a typical example of a high boiling point compound and its study is interesting for understanding those processes where vaporization takes place in parallel with pyrolysis during thermal treatment. The process has been studied under different operating conditions: nitrogen and air atmospheres, and isothermal and dynamic runs with three different heating rates from 5 K/min to 20 K/min. The experimental data were satisfactorily correlated to a n-order model with zero process order and the same apparent activation energy for all runs, but the exponential factors of the different runs depended on the initial mass and the heating rate. The experimental results were compared with those predicted considering the diffusion process inside the crucible, taking into account the vapor pressure and the diffusion coefficient of n-hexadecane. A parameter, product of these two variables, can be estimated from a single TG run, so the vaporization process in other equipment and/or operating conditions can also be estimated.