Pyrolysis kinetics of tobacco dust

Pyrolyses of tobacco dust were performed in a thermogravimetric analyser fr om room temperature to 1000 K, at heating rates of 10, 30, 50, 70 and 100 K min(-1). The global mass loss during tobacco dust pyrolysis was modelled b y a combination of a volatile evolution of four independent, parallel, mass -loss events for moisture and for non-moisture volatiles. The decomposition corresponding to each mass-loss event was characterized by a single reacti on, first-order with respect to the amount of volatile yet to evolve. The e volution of non-moisture, volatile mass-loss events is attributed to the de composition of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. In spite of both the he terogeneous nature of tobacco dust and the assumed oversimplification (simp le reaction, first order approach), the model proposed suitably predicts th e global mass loss process of tobacco dust.