Abstract: | At temperatures below 300°C, it has been shown that the pyrolysis of cellulose can be modeled in terms of a modified Kilzer-Broido ((K-B) Model. According to this model, cellulose decomposes via two competitive reactions, a dehydration reaction to form anhydrocellulose and a depolymerization reaction to form levoglucosan. Anhydrocellulose later decomposes to chars and gaseous products via two competitive reactions. Arrhenius parameters and a technique of estimating empirical constants from experimental data for the K-B type reactions are presented. Comparison of the ability of the modified K-B model and the three reaction model to predict weight loss, product yields and heat pretreated results are also made. |