Assessment of fast heat evolving processes using inverse analysis of calorimetric data

A computational method for an enhanced assessment of experimental data produced by isothermal calorimeters is presented. Based on the inverse analysis of transient heat transport in the calorimeter, the proposed technique enables reconstruction of fast heat evolving processes. A practical utilization of the developed method is demonstrated for the heat evolution in lime hydrate-water- and Portland cement-water systems where the computational assessment makes it possible to find seven to twelve times higher initial-peak heat power values than the calorimetric measurements. The high level of agreement of original experimental data with its computational representation, R2 = 0.9984 for the lime hydrate-water system and R2 = 0.9992 for the Portland cement-water system, confirms an overall good accuracy of the model. The capability of the developed computational method to correct intrinsic distortions, which are characteristic for specific calorimetric techniques, such as the heat consumption by device components and signal delay, makes good prerequisites for its applications in physics, chemistry, and engineering.