Modified Pyroprobe Captive Sample Reactor: Characterization of Reactor and Cellulose Pyrolysis at Vacuum and Atmospheric Pressures

Abstract

With the existing analytical pyrolysis systems (e.g., thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), pyroprobe, drop tube furnace, etc.) that are available on the market, it is not possible to monitor the real temperature of a sample or visualize the transformation of the solids. Furthermore, typical sample preparation methods (e.g., using a powder) result in poor mass and heat transfer, because of large sample thickness and the explosion of particles during the heating regime. To study and address these problems, (i) a new experimental setup was designed to allow temperature measurement and pyrolysis sample visualization using a CDS Pyroprobe 5000; (ii) the system was completely characterized with cellulose (85.7 μm thick) as the solid sample; and (iii) preliminary results showed the propulsion of cellulose particles out of the quartz sample tube, which could be a major source of error. As a result, a thin sample film was used for further experimentation. Pyrolysis experiments using cellulose were performed under nea...