Studies on coordination compounds: V. A chromatographic,mass spectrometric and infrared spectroscopic investigation of the thermal decomposition products of some nickel(II) aniline chloride,bromide, iodide,nitrate and sulphate compounds

Using chromatographic, infrared and mass spectrometric methods. 44 different organic compounds, besides water and ammonia have been separated and identified from the pyrolysis products of nickel(II) aniline nitrate hydrate. The nickel(II) aniline chloride, bromide, iodide and sulphate complexes, however, showed only aniline, formed by dissociation as an organic pyrolysis product; this is in accordance with previous conclusions drawn from thermogravimetric (TG) curves.On the basis of these results it is advisable to proceed with a certain caution when drawing conclusions from TG curves on pyrolysis processes without specification analyses of the process products. This should be specially noted when the reaction is abrupt and not calculable from the corresponding part of the TG curve, that is not smooth, preferably of S-shape.The formation of the main pyrolysis products through radical reactions is duscussed.     

Effect of sample preparation on the thermal degradation of metal-added biomass

The present study investigates the effect of different sample preparation methods on the pyrolysis behaviour of metal-added biomass; Willow samples were compared in the presence of two salts of zinc and lead containing sulphate and nitrate anions which were added to the wood samples with three different techniques as dry-mixing, impregnation and ion-exchange. The effect of acid and water wash as common demineralisation pre-treatments were also analysed to evaluate their roles in the thermal degradation of the biomass. Results from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and pyrolysis-mass spectrometry (Py-MS) measurements indicated that these pre-treatments change the matrix and the physical–chemical properties of wood. Results suggested that these structural changes increase the thermal stability of cellulose during pyrolysis. Sample preparation was also found to be a crucial factor during pyrolysis; different anions of metal salts changed the weight loss rate curves of wood material, which indicates changes in the primary degradation process of the biomass. Results also showed that dry-mixing, impregnation or ion-exchange influence the thermal behaviour of wood in different ways when a chosen metal salt was and added to the wood material.     

Physical and chemical changes in feather keratin during pyrolysis

The structural changes of chicken feather fibers (CFF) were investigated during pyrolysis by thermal analysis techniques coupled with mass spectrometry, solubility tests and gel permeation chromatography. The experimental data showed simultaneous disulfide bond cleavage and peptide crosslinking reactions, and suggested the dependency of crystalline melting on disulfide bond cleavage. The variation in the kinetics of these reactions played an important role in the melting transition and stability. Thus, careful tuning of the pyrolysis thermal profile provided conditions to obtain useful fibrous material at high temperatures. For instance, long-time heat treatments below the melting point provided sufficient crosslinks in the protein matrix to keep the fibrous structure intact. The protein matrix went through a series of transformations including cyclization and aromatization reactions above the melting point. Degradation of the matrix and liberation of aromatic carbons and cyclic amines were observed during these transformations. These pyrolysis mechanisms can serve as a guide for producing materials with desired properties from CFF and other keratin fibers, particularly in textile, high performance composite and catalyst applications.     

Biomass pyrolysis kinetics: A comparative critical review with relevant agricultural residue case studies

Biomass pyrolysis is a fundamental thermochemical conversion process that is of both industrial and ecological importance. From designing and operating industrial biomass conversion systems to modeling the spread of wildfires, an understanding of solid state pyrolysis kinetics is imperative. A critical review of kinetic models and mathematical approximations currently employed in solid state thermal analysis is provided. Isoconversional and model-fitting methods for estimating kinetic parameters are comparatively evaluated. The thermal decomposition of biomass proceeds via a very complex set of competitive and concurrent reactions and thus the exact mechanism for biomass pyrolysis remains a mystery. The pernicious persistence of substantial variations in kinetic rate data for solids irrespective of the kinetic model employed has exposed serious divisions within the thermal analysis community and also caused the broader scientific and industrial community to question the relevancy and applicability of all kinetic data obtained from heterogeneous reactions. Many factors can influence the kinetic parameters, including process conditions, heat and mass transfer limitations, physical and chemical heterogeneity of the sample, and systematic errors. An analysis of thermal decomposition data obtained from two agricultural residues, nutshells and sugarcane bagasse, reveals the inherent difficulty and risks involved in modeling heterogeneous reaction systems.     

Pathways of liquefied petroleum gas pyrolysis in hydrogen plasma: A density functional theory study

A density functional theory (DFT) study has been conducted in this work to investigate the pyrolysis pathways of propane and n-butane, which are the main components of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), for better understanding the pyrolysis behavior of LPG in hydrogen thermal plasma. Over 60 possible reactions are considered. The reaction enthalpies and activation energies of these reactions are calculated and analyzed with a Gaussian method of B3LYP and basic set of 6-31G (d,p). A most possible reaction pathway is brought up. According to this reaction pathway, the main products of LPG pyrolysis are acetylene, ethylene, methane, ethane and extra hydrogen. Acetylene mainly comes from the pyrolysis of propylene and ethylene, and hydrogen abstraction reactions are the main source of extra hydrogen gas. Active H· radicals are found to play a very important role in many reactions, and they can remarkably lower the energies needed for reactions.     

Investigation of thermal decomposition reactions by means of thermal analysis and dielectric constant measurement

Dielectric constant measurements as a function of temperature and thermal analysis were performed in copper sulphate pentahydrate and sodium nitrite to study the nature of the decomposition reactions. The application of these combined techniques to the study of several possible mechanisms of thermal decomposition is advanced.     

Application of analytical pyrolysis for wood fire protection control

The effect of two flame-retardant compositions (A-76% potassium carbonate, B-67% sulphate ammonium) on the process of thermal degradation of wood and the composition of volatile products of pyrolysis has been investigated by the thermogravimetry and analytical pyrolysis methods. It has been shown that the effect of flame retardants manifests itself in the low-temperature region with the formation of more thermally stable intermediate carbonized products. Upon pyrolysis of wood under the action of the composition A, the mechanism of degradation of the lignin component changes, which manifests itself in a more than two-fold increase in the guaiacol and vinylguaiacol contents in the composition of volatile products and the inhibition of the formation of carbohydrates destruction products. It has been found that the composition B has a catalytic action mainly on the process of thermal depolymerization of cellulose, favouring the increase in the formation of levoglucosan and practically does not change the yield of lignin degradation products.     

Competitive reactions model for the pyrolysis of lignocellulose: A critical study

The “two competitive reactions” model for the pyrolysis of lignocellulosic materials finds support in the dependence of charcoal yield on thermal conditions, particularly the reaction temperature. This paper reports a critical study of the model on the basis of our experimental data on the pyrolysis of cellulose and wood. The theoretical bases of the model are briefly reviewed. Experimental results and model predictions — using kinetic parameters calculated from our own data — are compared over a wide range of thermal conditions. The implications for reactor design purposes are briefly discussed.     

Ester-Ester Exchange Reactions of Aliphatic Polyesters

The kinetics of ester-ester exchange reactions of poly(ethylene adipate) and poly(trimethylene adipate) at 312°C and in the absence of a solvent and catalysts has been reported previously. Independent investigations of the thermal degradation reactions of these polyesters under high vacuum have shown that pyrolysis already starts above 270°C. An ester-ester exchange mechanism via a reversible thermal degradation reaction is proposed.     

Direct mass spectrometry of polymers. VII. Primary thermal fragmentation processes in polycarbonates

The primary fragmentation mechanisms in the thermal decomposition of several polycarbonates were studied by direct pyrolysis into the mass spectrometer. Our results indicate that ester exchange reactions predominate in the primary thermal fragmentation process of polycarbonates, causing the formation of cyclic oligomers.     

Pyrolysis of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). 2. Theoretical study of decomposition pathways

The thermal decomposition pathways of MTBE have been investigated using the G3B3 method. On the basis of the experimental observation and theoretical calculation, the pyrolysis channels are provided, especially for primary pyrolysis reactions. The primary decomposition pathways include formation of methanol and isobutene, CH4 elimination, H2 elimination and C-H, C-C, C-O bond cleavage reactions. Among them, the formation channel of methanol and isobutene is the lowest energy pathway, which is in accordance with experimental observation. Furthermore, the secondary pyrolysis pathways have been calculated as well, including decomposition of tert-butyl radical, isobutene, methanol and acetone. The radicals play an important role in the formation of pyrolysis products, for example, tert-butyl radical and allyl radical are major precursors for the formation of allene and propyne. Although some isomers (isobutene and 1-butene, allene and propyne, acetone and propanal) are identified in our experiment, these isomerization reaction pathways occur merely at the high temperature due to their high activation energies. The theoretical calculation can explain the experimental results reported in part 1 and shed further light on the thermal decomposition pathways.     

Direct mass spectrometry of polymers. VIII. Primary thermal fragmentation processes in polyurethanes

The primary fragmentation mechanisms in the thermal decomposition of several polyurethanes were studied by direct pyrolysis into the mass spectrometer. Ester exchange reactions predominate in the primary thermal fragmentation process, causing the formation of cyclic oligomers, which are subsequently cleaved to open-chain oligomers containing hydroxyl end groups.     

Influence of the heating conditions on the thermal and chemical behaviour of solid particles undergoing a fast endothermic decomposition

This paper deals with models describing the thermal and chemical behaviour of solid particles undergoing fast endothermic reactions under the influence of an external heat flux. The heat source temperature is supposed to be constant, to increase with time, or to deliver a simple thermal flash. It is shown that the pyrolysis conditions (reaction temperature, conversion, etc.) depend on the chemical characteristics of the reaction and also to a large extent on the external heating conditions. Relationships are proposed to take into account these parameters. The results are applied to the thermal decomposition of NaHCO₃. The pyrolysis of cellulose is finally chosen in order to show how these operating parameters can also affect the selectivity of a more complex reaction.     

Pyrolysis–gas chromatography mass spectrometry and field ionization mass spectrometry of polyquinones

Low- and high-molecular mass thermal decomposition products of five polyquinones with different linking aromatic structures have been analyzed by pyrolysis–gas chromatography and by direct (in-source) pyrolysis–field ionization mass spectrometry. The quantity of carboxyl groups present in the polymer is obtained by the amounts of carbon dioxide found by pyrolysis–gas chromatography. Assuming a radical thermal decomposition mechanism the distribution of ketoacidic and quinonoid segments along the macromolecular ladder could be estimated from the high-molecular mass products measured by pyrolysis–field ionization mass spectrometry. A random distribution of the two different segments was found for polyquinones with biphenylene and dibenzofuran subunits, while a structure built up of blocks of two or more identical segments was obtained for polyquinones with dibenzothiophene and diphenylmethane subunits. At the same time the anomalous structural moieties in the polyquinone ladders are also clarified with the help of the identification of the unexpected pyroysis products. Oxidated and bis-dibenzothiophene and bis-diphenylmethane subunits were found. The observed temperature dependence for the appearances of the thermal degradation products indicates that condensation and elimination reactions are taking place under the described pyrolysis conditions. Condensation in the ketoacidic segments forming new quinonoid segments proved to be important in the polymer which was a 100% poly(ketoacid), but negligible in the polyquinones containing ketoacidic segments up to 60%.     

A pyrolysis-GC–MS investigation of poly(vinyl phenyl ketone)

The thermal decomposition process and pyrolysis products of poly(vinyl phenyl ketone) (PVPK) were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and on-line pyrolysis-gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py-GC–MS). TGA showed a largest weight loss rate around 380 °C. Py-GC–MS was used for the qualitative analysis of the pyrolysis products at 350, 500, 600, 700 and 850 °C. The major volatile thermal decomposition product was found to be 1-phenyl-2-propenone, which dominated all other volatile species especially under the least severe pyrolysis conditions (<600 °C). At higher temperatures a much wider range of pyrolysis products was obtained. The results have been interpreted assuming that primary random chain scission reactions occur followed by typical unzipping mainly producing monomer units; detachment of the side-group occurs only under more severe pyrolysis conditions. Py-GC–MS showed to be effective in PVPK detection in ink and paint formulations.     

Correlation gas chromatography in polymer thermal degradation studies

In studying the reactions of thermal degradation of solid samples more information can be obtained by correlation gas chromatography than by conventional pyrolysis gas chromatography. This is due to a multiplex character of the method leading to a rapid decrease in detection limit.     

Pyrolysis-gas chromatography of polymers obtained by Friedel-Crafts reactions of poly(vinyl chloride) with aromatic compounds

Pyrolysis, in combination with gas-chromatography technique, was used in the determination of the structure and study of the thermal degradation mechanism of the condensation polymers obtained by Friedel-Crafts reactions of poly(vinyl chloride) with benzene, toluene, and naphthalene. The separation of the pyrolysis products was made using a column packed with chromosorb W (80–100 mesh) coated with 15% silicone SE-52. The identification of the pyrolysis products resulted as a consequence of the thermal decomposition of condensation polymers and their semiquantitative estimation led to the final conclusion that the initial normal chlorine substitution in the macromolecular chain of poly(vinyl chloride) is followed by an important intramolecular cyclization reaction yielding 1,3-methyleneindan units.     

Copolyamides from adipic and truxillic acids: Synthesis and characterization by direct pyrolysis in the mass spectrometer

The synthesis of a series of polyamides and copolyamides containing α-truxillic and adipic units in the chain is reported. The thermal degradation of these polymers was investigated by direct pyrolysis in the ion source of a mass spectrometer. Thermal degradation reactions were followed directly by this method by detecting the thermal- and electron-impact-induced fragments. The results obtained show a good correlation between the intensity of mass peaks characteristic of truxillic and adipic moieties and the composition of the copolyamides, as ascertained by elemental analysis. This is an important result since it shows the potential of the direct pyrolysis method in the analysis of copolymers. Relevant information on the relative thermal stabilities of the polymers investigated has been also obtained.     

Kinetic modeling of pyrolysis of scrap tires

The disposal of used tires is a major environmental problem. With increasing interest on recovery of wastes, pyrolysis is considered as an alternative process for recovering some of the value in scrap tires. An accurate kinetic model is required to predict product yields during thermal or catalytic pyrolysis of scrap tires. Pyrolysis products contain a variety of hydrocarbons over a wide boiling range. A common approach for kinetic modeling of such complex systems is lumping where each lump is defined by a boiling point range. Available experimental data for thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of scrap tires from the literature were used to evaluate two types of lumping models; discrete and continuous lumping models. The lumps were described in terms of the boiling point distribution of the reactant mixture. In the discrete model, the conversion of heavier to lighter lumps was described in terms of series and parallel first order reactions. In the continuous model, the normalized boiling point was used to describe the reactant mixture as a continuous mixture. An optimization procedure was implemented for estimation of the model parameters using experimental data reported in the literature. Model predictions with indicated that although the discrete model could reasonably predict the yields of different cuts in the products, predictions of the continuous model were very good, especially in thermal pyrolysis.     

马瑞原油在空气和氮气中的热解-氧化性能

低温氧化是注空气采油及原位燃烧采油技术中的重要化学反应,为深入认识原油在有氧环境下复杂热反应过程中的低温氧化特性,我们采用热重/差热分析法(TG/DTA)研究了线性升温和等温条件下马瑞(Merey)原油的热反应行为。 结果表明,Merey原油在空气及线性升温条件下的受热过程分4个阶段:气化段、低温氧化段、热解段和高温氧化段;相邻阶段的物理、化学主导过程的重叠增加了分析原油热反应特征的难度。 升温速率提高,气化段和低温氧化段的终止温度不变;热解段和高温氧化段的终止温度以及热解段的峰温随升温速率的增加而升高。 N₂气与空气下Merey原油的热重/微分热重(TG/DTG)数据对比表明,升温速率越高,空气下的高温氧化段与热解段重叠程度越大,这有利于燃烧但会降低原油采收率。 空气下等温时的TG/DTA结果表明随升温速率增加,升温至300 ℃时的失重率降低,不利于原油轻组分的气化。 反应温度越高,气化过程时间越长,失重分数越大。 Merey原油在低于300℃时低温氧化反应不是主导反应。