Change of the apparent reaction order with temperature as a consequence ofthe reaction mechanism complexity

The theoretical isotherms (alpha=alpha (t), where alpha is the conversion d egree and t is the time) and the theoretical thermogravimetric curves (alph a=alpha (T), where T is the temperature) were simulated for a system in whi ch two consecutive reactions occur. A critical analysis of the use of an ov erall single rate reaction equation instead of the use of the true rate equ ations is presented. Both for isothermal and non-isothermal data and alpha less than or equal to0.50, the apparent reaction order depends on temperatu re. It is pointed out that the apparent reaction order for a given temperat ure can be evaluated if the parameters of the compensation effect are known .