Fitting TGA data of oil sludge pyrolysis and oxidation by applying a model free approximation of the Arrhenius parameters

Interpreting the thermal pyrolysis data from organic substances using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) requires assuming certain formal kinetic models to be a priori for parametric fitting. The form of the assumed model limits the accuracy of stimulating the pyrolysis data. This work demonstrates the feasibility of modeling the pyrolyzed sample as a continuous mixture, in which an Arrhenius-type kinetics is applied with activation energy, pre-exponential factor, and reaction order as continuous functions of conversion. Such a data fitting scheme is not used to identify the actual chemical kinetics involved, but rather to describe the complex chemical kinetics in a unified, “model free” manner for engineering applications.