Charring Polymers Research Articles

Pyrolysis of Automotive Shredder Residue (ASR): Thermogravimetry, In-Situ Synchrotron IR and Gas-Phase IR of Polymeric Components.

This article reports the characterisation of pyrolysis of automotive shredder residue using in situ synchrotron IR, gas-phase IR, and thermal analyses to explore if the automotive shredder residue can be converted into value-added products. When heating to ~600 °C at different heating rates, thermal analyses suggested one- to two-stage pyrolysis. Transformations in the first stage, at lower temperatures, were attributed to the degradation of carbonyl, hydroxyl, or carboxyl functional stabilisers (aldehyde and ether impurities, additives, and stabilisers in the ASR). The second stage transformations, at higher temperatures, were attributed to the thermal degradation of the polymer char. Simultaneous thermal analyses and gas-phase IR spectroscopy confirmed the evolution of the gases (alkanes (CH4), CO2, and moisture). The synchrotron IR data have demonstrated that a high heating rate (such as 150 °C/min) results in an incomplete conversion of ASRs unless sufficient time is provided. The thermogravimetry data fit the linearised multistage kinetic model at different heating rates. The activation energy of reactions varied between 24.98 and 124.94 kJ/mol, indicating a surface-controlled reaction exhibiting high activation energy during the initial stages and a diffusion and mass transfer control showing lower activation energy at the final stages. The corresponding frequency factors were in the range of 3.34 × 1013-5.68 × 101 mg-1/min for different pyrolysis stages. The evolution of the functional groups decreased with an increase in the heating rate.

Ignition processes and characteristics of charring conductive polymers with a cavity geometry in precombustion chamber for applications in micro/nano satellite hybrid rocket motors

The arc ignition system based on charring polymers has advantages of simple structure, low ignition power consumption and multiple ignitions, which bringing it broadly application prospect in hybrid propulsion system of micro/nano satellite. However, charring polymers alone need a relatively high input voltage to achieve pyrolysis and ignition, which increases the burden and cost of the power system of micro/nano satellite in practical application. Adding conductive substance into charring polymers can effectively decrease the conducting voltage which can realize low voltage and low power consumption repeated ignition of arc ignition system. In this paper, a charring conductive polymer ignition grain with a cavity geometry in precombustion chamber, which is composed of PLA and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) was proposed. The detailed ignition processes were analyzed and two different ignition mechanisms in the cavity of charring conductive polymers were revealed. The ignition characteristics of charring conductive polymers were also investigated at different input voltages, ignition grain structures, ignition locations and injection schemes in a visual ignition combustor. The results demonstrated that the ignition delay and external energy required for ignition were inversely correlated with the voltages applied to ignition grain. Moreover, the incremental depth of cavity shortened the ignition delay and external energy required for ignition while accelerated the propagation of flame. As the depth of cavity increased from 2 to 6 mm (at 50 V), the time of flame propagating out of ignition grain changed from 235.6 to 108 ms, and values of mean ignition delay time and mean external energy required for ignition decreased from 462.8 to 320 ms and 16.2 to 10.75 J, respectively. The rear side of the cavity was the ideal ignition position which had a shorter ignition delay and a faster flame propagation speed in comparison to other ignition positions. Compared to direct injection scheme, swirling injection provided a more favorable flow field environment in the cavity, which was beneficial to ignition and initial flame propagation, but the ignition position needed to be away from the outlet of swirling injector. At last, the repeated ignition characteristic of charring conductive polymers was also investigated. The ignition delay time and external energy required for ignition decreased with repeated ignition times but the variation was decreasing gradually.

Interactions between cellulose and lignin during hydrolysis in subcritical water

The interactions between cellulose and lignin, and the hydrolysis behavior of cellulose, lignin and cellulose-lignin mixtures with mass ratios of 25/75, 50/50, 75/25 in subcritical water were investigated in this study. Cellulose and lignin interactions greatly promoted the hydrolysis of lignin during hydrolysis of the cellulose-lignin mixture with a mass ratio of 25/75, whereas they accelerated and suppressed lignin hydrolysis in the other cellulose-lignin mixtures at reaction temperatures under and above 257 °C, respectively. The cellulose and lignin interactions presented negative effects on cellulose hydrolysis in all the samples at reaction temperatures higher than 257 °C. However, they showed positive and negative effects in the cellulose-lignin mixture with a mass ratio of 25/75, and the cellulose-lignin mixtures with mass ratios of 50/50 and 75/25, respectively, at reaction temperatures under 257 °C. The cellulose and lignin interactions also suppressed the heat-related reactions and the glucose and aromatic-linked polymer char formation reactions.

Effect of acid-associated mechanical pretreatment on the hydrolysis behavior of pine sawdust in subcritical water

The effects of sulfuric acid-associated mechanical pretreatment on the hydrolysis behavior of pine sawdust were investigated in this study. Sulfuric acid could act as an acidic catalyst to depolymerize holocellulose through cleavage of the glycosidic bonds, the dissociation energies of which were supplied by the impact of a ball on pine sawdust, during milling. The destruction of glycosidic and hydrogen bonds in pine sawdust resulted in a decrease of crystallinity and an increase of water solubility. The sulfuric acid could promote the hydrolysis of holocellulose and its hydrolysis products. It also destroyed the chemical linkages between holocellulose and lignin during ball milling. The cleavage of chemical linkages with holocellulose made lignin more difficult to hydrolyze in subcritical water, and higher activation energy was needed to hydrolyze pretreated pine sawdust at higher reaction temperatures. It also led to the formation of glucose char and aromatic-linked polymer char from the hydrolysis products of holocellulose.

Biodiesel Synthesis from High Free-Fatty-Acid Chicken Fat using a Scrap-Tire Derived Solid Acid Catalyst and KOH.

A heterogeneous solid acid catalyst was synthesized using tire polymer waste (TPW) for the esterification of waste chicken fat (CF) enriched with fatty acids. The TPW was carbonized and functionalized with concentrated sulfuric acid under various sulfonation conditions to obtain a sulfonated tire polymer char (TPC-SO3H) catalyst. The TPC-SO3H catalyst was further characterized via acid-base titration (to ascertain the total concentration of acid), X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. The esterification reaction conditions of extracted chicken fat with methanol and the viability of catalyst reuse were also investigated. The composition of the free fatty acid (FFA) decreased to below 1% under optimum reaction conditions of 5% TPC-SO3H catalyst, the methanol-to-CF molar-ratio of 15:1, and a reaction time of 120 min at 70 °C. The catalyst preserved its conversion efficiency above 90%, even after three cycles. The results demonstrate that the catalyst is applicable and efficient in the esterification of raw materials containing various fatty acid compositions since different carbonized materials have distinct abilities to combine acid groups. Furthermore, after de-acidification of CF-FFA by the as-prepared TPC-SO3H catalyst, the neutral CF was transesterified completely to biodiesel and characterized via Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy and physicochemical analysis. This work unveils a promising technique for utilizing tire waste generated in large quantities for the development of a novel heterogeneous acid catalyst for biodiesel production.

A flame‐retardant DOPO‐MgAl‐LDH was prepared and applied in poly (methyl methacrylate) resin

A novel inorganic and organic composite flame retardant (9,10‐dihydro‐9‐oxa‐10‐phosphaphenanthrene‐10‐oxide [DOPO]–layered double hydroxide [LDH]) was synthesized via grafting DOPO with organic‐modified Mg/Al‐LDH, which was introduced into poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) resin to prepare the flame‐retardant PMMA composites. Thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) showed that the T‐50% of DOPO‐LDH/PMMA composites enhanced by about 20°C, and with the 20% flame retardant, the residual char content can be increased by 39.8% in the air atmosphere compared with LDH/PMMA composites. In the UL‐94 and the limiting oxygen index (LOI) tests, it can be found that compared with LDH/PMMA composites, the LOI value of DOPO‐LDH/PMMA composites were raised evidently with the increased flame retardants, and the droplet combustion was greatly improved. These results could be ascribed to the action of DOPO free‐radical, catalytic charring of polymer and the effect of LDH physical barrier. Moreover, the novel DOPO‐LDH not only given PMMA a good flame‐retardant property and thermal stability, but also have higher visible light transmittance, ultraviolet‐shielding effect, and low loss of mechanical properties, which could further facilitate the wide application of inorganic environment‐friendly flame retardants in general resins and engineering resins and broaden the application of polymers.

Performance analysis of a heat transfer and sub-grid chemical reaction distributed activation energy model for fire simulations

A heat transfer and sub-grid chemical reaction kinetic model for solid phase combustion of a charring polymer is presented based on distributed reactivity modeling approach. The model is used to compute flammability parameters of a polymer sheet of a given thickness to simulate test results of a cone calorimeter experiment. Comparison of model simulations with cone calorimeter test data shows that it gives reasonable prediction of mass loss rate, heat release rate, and total heat released of poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) and ethyl vinyl acetate–aluminum tri-hydroxide (EVA-ATH). The solution of governing equations with the current form of distributed reactivity modeling model poses numerical challenges due to appearance of a double integral in the chemical reaction model. Hence, an analytical approximation has been derived to solve mass and energy conservation equations representing the model. Simulation results indicate that with the approximated form of the distributed reactivity modeling model, along with the input parameters retrieved from literature, the model shows comparatively good predictions for EVA-ATH for mass loss rate, heat release rate, and total heat released, but calculates under-predicted values for PVC.

Simulation of the pyrolysis of charring polymers: influence of the porous media properties

Recent large-scale experiments of cable tray fires have shown that the composition of the cable-sheath materials have a strong influence on the fire growth and spread. Thus, the correct prediction of the fire scenario requires the characterization of the sheath materials thermal and thermokinetic parameters. Yet, this task may be tricky for the materials whose pyrolysis generally leads to the formation of a porous residual. Whereas the physical constants related to the material degradation kinetics and to the virgin material properties can usually be determined using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry, the porous residue properties are difficult to obtain and rarely available for pyrolysis models validation.The present paper deals with the simulation of reference cone calorimeter experiments carried out on PVC samples. An extension to porous media of the pyrolysis model of the CALIF3S-ISIS fire simulation software, developed at IRSN and validated on non-charring polymers, is used for the simulations. Special attention is paid to the modelling of the thermal diffusion effects in the porous residuals. On the one hand, based on the intrinsic conductivity of the different media (virgin material, intumescent intermediate state, char and gases), several effective conductivity models are tested to evaluate the relevant range for the global material conductivity. On the other hand, it is observed that the porous residuals of PVC generally contain large pores due to the material intumescence. That is why a radiative conductivity is included in the model to account for the radiative transfer in the pores. Without precise knowledge of the PVC residuals morphology, a Penetrable Sphere Model (PSM) is chosen to represent the porous medium geometry. This model is parametrized by a constant porosity deduced from the experimental data, and a variable pore size. It allows deducing a porous medium radiative conductivity which is added to the usual effective conductivity.It is shown that, in the particular case of PVC pyrolysis, the uncertainty on the purely conductive effects induces a very limited dispersion on the simulation of the Heat Release Rate (HRR), since all the considered models yield very similar results. Conversely, the sensitivity of the radiative conductivity and therefore of the pyrolysis kinetics to the PSM pore size is much larger. The optimal pore size with respect to the HRR temporal evolution is of the same order as the pore size observed in some PVC residuals. Finally, pyrolysis simulations are performed with this optimized parameter for different cone heater induced heat fluxes and sample sizes. A good overall agreement is found between the experimental and the numerical HRR evolution, except for the thinnest sample for which the numerical HRR is overestimated. More generally, this work shows that further effort on the morphological description of the porous residuals and on the modelling of the radiative transfer is required if one aims at performing predictive pyrolysis simulations.

Quantitative structure‐property relationship modeling of phosphoric polyester char formation

SummaryA required characteristic for almost all commercial polymers is to be flame retardant. This can be achieved if they have intrinsic flame‐retardant behavior, or by incorporating in them flame‐retardant materials. Polyphopshpoesters can be used as flame‐retardant materials for other polymers. In the present work, the multiple linear regression (MLR) technique was used for a quantitative structure‐property relationship study of char yields of 32 polyphosphonates and polyphosphates. The polyphosphoesters were modeled by their mer units, which were pre‐optimized using the MMFF94 force field. The molecular descriptors derived from the optimized structures were calculated for the minimum energy conformers, using the InstantJChem and Dragon programs. The polymer char yield was related to the structural descriptors, using MLR calculations, which were combined with a genetic algorithm for variable selection. Several stable MLR models were obtained, which were externally validated using seven compounds, as a test set. Model equations emphasize the important influence of structural descriptors to the polymer charring behavior. The best‐developed regression models contain Randić molecular profiles, Geometry, Topology and Atom‐Weights Assembly, and 3D Molecule Representation of Structures based on Electron diffraction descriptors, which influence positively the char formation. These models were used for the prediction of potential char formation of nine polyphosphonates and polyphosphates.

Newly Developed Resins More Challenging to Control in Production Plants

Plastics EngineeringVolume 74, Issue 5 p. 48-51 Technical Article Newly Developed Resins More Challenging to Control in Production Plants Developments in resins have opened up a whole new world of design choices, but challenges remain because current quality control parameters only show part of the picture B. Monrabal, B. Monrabal Polymer Char, Valencia, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorA. Ortín, A. Ortín Polymer Char, Valencia, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorP. del Hierro, P. del Hierro Polymer Char, Valencia, SpainSearch for more papers by this author B. Monrabal, B. Monrabal Polymer Char, Valencia, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorA. Ortín, A. Ortín Polymer Char, Valencia, SpainSearch for more papers by this authorP. del Hierro, P. del Hierro Polymer Char, Valencia, SpainSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 May 2018 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1941-9635.2018.tb01887.xAboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume74, Issue5May 2018Pages 48-51 RelatedInformation

Influence of model assumptions on charring polymer decomposition in the cone calorimeter

This article addresses the one-dimensional modeling of a charring polymer decomposition in the cone calorimeter used to reproduce at bench scale the radiative heating from a fire. The rate-controlling phenomena are first discussed in a preliminary analysis of dimensionless numbers. Then, the role of three critical assumptions is highlighted by simulations: (1) transport of the gaseous products within the material or instantaneous release of gaseous products, (2) volume variation or constant volume, and (3) absorption of applied heat flux at the exposed face or through the thickness. Their influence in thermally thick regime is shown in particular on mass loss rate and time to extinction. Under the conditions tested, the influence of internal transport by convection on mass loss rate and time to extinction is minor. The assumption of constant volume appears to have a moderate influence on the mass loss rate and time to extinction. Variations of optical properties affect the numerical results by an increase of the maximum peak of mass loss rate and a decrease of time to extinction. Finally, the effects of applied heat flux and initial material thickness on the mass loss rate and time to extinction are important. With a higher heat flux or a smaller thickness, the decomposition is earlier, faster, and more intense.

Fire reaction properties of polystyrene-based nanocomposites using nanosilica and nanoclay as additives in cone calorimeter test

Using nanofiller additives in the polymer matrix to form nanocomposites is a potential way of reducing the flame spread and enhancing flame retardancy of polymeric materials during fire. To understand the fire reaction properties and the relative performance of flame-retardant additives in polymer during well-developed fire, neat polystyrene, polystyrene–silica and polystyrene–nanoclay (MMT) have been tested in a cone calorimeter. The neat polystyrene and the polystyrene nanocomposites have been prepared via an in situ polymerization method. An external heat flux of 50 kW m−2 was applied in the test, and parameters such as heat release rate, peak heat release rate, time to ignition, smoke toxicity, CO and CO2 yield have been investigated. Both neat polystyrene and polystyrene nanocomposites have shown the trend of a thermally thick charring polymer in the heat release rate over time data. The nanocomposites had an overall better flame retardancy than the neat polystyrene in terms of lower peak heat release rate, lower average mass loss rate and enhanced char formation. The nanocomposites had also reduced smoke emission with lower CO and CO2 yield compared to the neat polystyrene. The overall flame retardancy was enhanced as the nanofiller loading was increased for both the nanosilica and MMT nanocomposites.

Experimental Study and Numerical Modeling of Downward Flame Spread Along a Single Pine Needle: Part 1 (Experiments)

ABSTRACTThis work presents an experimental study of downward flame spread over a vertically positioned single pine needle of Pinus Sibirica. Detailed spatial measurements in the gas phase have been carried out to determine the chemical and thermal flame structure of the spreading flame. In addition, temperature distribution in pine needle is also measured. In the gas phase micro thermocouple measurements were used to determine temperature distribution; mass spectrometry with microprobe sampling was used to measure the concentration profiles of О2 and the main combustion products (СО2, СО, Н2О). The micro thermocouple method was also used to measure temperature distribution in a pine needle for flame spread along it. The data obtained from the experiments on single vertical pine needles reveals two stages in downward flame propagation: (1) a zone in the vicinity of the leading edge of the spreading flame where virgin pine needle decomposes to form char and volatile pyrolysis products formed. The pyrolysis products mix with air and ignited by flame behind causes flame to propagate; and (2) a zone where heterogeneous burning of char occurs. The downward flame spread velocity along a single pine needle was also measured for several counter-flow air velocities to obtain dependence of flame spread rate on counter-flow velocity. The data obtained in this work can also serve as a much needed base for testing and refining the numerical models describing flame spread along individual components of forest fuels (FF). Further, as the flame propagation along a bed of FF is similar to that along charring polymer materials, the data obtained and the applied methods of research may be also of interest to those studying the charring polymer combustion mechanism.

Research on the Effects of Charring on the Polymer Combustion Process

PyroSim software was used to establish the combustion behavior of polymers in the cone calorimeter test, the char yield, the effects of thermal conductivity and the specific heat capacity of the char layer on the combustion process of polymer were analyzed. The results show that, the heat release rate curves show a single peak while the char yield is 0%. The heat release rate curves have three peaks when the char yield is larger than 0%. The charring of polymer significantly influences the shape of heat release rate curves. The heat release rate decreased with the increasing of char yield of polymer. Moreover, the heat release rate of charred polymer improved with the thermal conductivity of char layer. Moreover, the specific heat capacity of char layer plays no role in the heat release rate of polymer and the combustion behavior of polymer.

Development of pyrolysis models for charring polymers

Controlled atmosphere, radiation-driven gasification experiments were conducted on a series of synthetic polymers including poly(acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), poly(ethylene terephthalate), poly(methyl methacrylate)-poly(vinyl chloride) alloy (Kydex) and polyetherimide. Mass loss rate and non-radiated surface temperature of coupon-sized material samples were measured simultaneously and recorded as a function of time. These temperature data were combined with the results of broadband radiation absorption measurements and previously conducted thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to characterize the transport of thermal energy inside the gasifying materials through inverse modeling. Subsequently, complete pyrolysis models, based on the kinetics and thermodynamics of the thermal decomposition derived from the TGA and DSC experiments, were formulated and employed to predict the mass loss rate histories obtained at 30–90 kW m−2 of external radiant heat flux simulating fire exposure. Satisfactory predictions were obtained for all materials with the exception of polyetherimide, which highly intumescent behavior introduced large uncertainties in the gasification conditions.

Synthesis and Characterization of Hyperbranched Polyazomethine Ablators for Space Exploration Applications

A novel series of ablative composites containing a hyperbranched polyazomethine synthesized inside a carbon fiber preform (HyPAZA) were prepared, which have similar density to phenolic impregnated carbon ablators (). A novel method of synthesizing strong hyperbranched polyazomethine thermosets has been developed, enabling polyazomethines to be studied in ablators for the first time. Several formulations of HyPAZA perform better than the phenolic impregnated carbon ablator in terms of polymer char yield, composite mechanical strength, laser ablation tests at heat fluxes of 550 and , and small-scale arcjet testing at a heat flux of . Char yields of hyperbranched polyazomethines were as high as 79% at 1000°C by thermogravimetric analysis. This is one of the highest char yields ever reported for a fully organic polymer. Some HyPAZA composites are over 10 times stronger than the carbon fiber preform, as determined by compression tests. Specimens were also tested in an arcjet facility at . Several formulations exhibited better performance than the phenolic impregnated carbon ablator in terms of ablation rate by a factor of 1.2 to 1.7. In addition, HyPAZA composites impregnated with aerogel show a lower rate of increase of back wall temperature, and therefore a lower thermal conductivity.

Fire behaviors of polymers under autoignition conditions in a cone calorimeter

Besides piloted ignition, autoignition is also an important aspect to real fire development as combustible materials may be ignited without independent flame. Fire behaviors of non-charring and charring polymers were then investigated in a cone calorimeter under autoignition conditions. Fire risk of non-charring polymers are higher than those of charring polymers because of high heat release, and the increase of heat release rate is much obvious with a higher heat flux or thickness. Charring polymers seem to have a higher CO yield, while non-charring polymers have a higher CO2 yield. Ignition methods have influences to combustion efficiency of non-charring polymers as effective heat of combustion under autoignition are observed lower than those reference data under piloted ignition conditions. Its influences to charring polymers are not obvious. Both CO and CO2 yields under flaming combustion are higher than those under non-flaming combustion, but mass percent of carbon seem to has limited effect. Experimental data in this study can provide a guidance to fire risk evaluation of non-charring and charring polymers.

Measurement of kinetics and thermodynamics of the thermal degradation for charring polymers

This work was focused on developing and applying a systematic methodology for the measurement of kinetics and thermodynamics of the thermal degradation of polymeric materials. This methodology employed a simultaneous thermal analysis instrument capable of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A numerical model was utilized to fit thermogravimetric data to obtain thermal degradation kinetics. This model was subsequently employed to analyze DSC heat flow and extract sensible, melting and decomposition reaction heats. The extracted set of kinetic and thermodynamic parameters was shown to simultaneously reproduce TGA and DSC curves. In the current study, this methodology was applied to polymers that produce a significant amount of carbon rich residue (char) upon thermal decomposition. The analyzed materials were a poly(methyl methacrylate)–poly(vinyl chloride) alloy (Kydex), polymerized diglycidylether of bisphenol A, poly(ethylene terephthalate), poly(paraphenylene terephthalamide) (Kevlar), polymerized bisphenol A cyanate ester, poly(phenylene sulfide), polyetherimide and poly(ether ether ketone). The materials that produced less than 40 wt.% of char upon decomposition were found to decompose endothermically. The materials whose char yield exceeded 40 wt.% were found to undergo an exothermic decomposition.

Phosphinates and layered silicates in charring polymers: The flame retardancy action in polyurethane foams

Nanocomposites of a charring polymer (like polyurethane foam) filled with aluminum phosphinate (AlPi) with or without melamine cyanurate (MelCy) have been prepared by microwave processing and their thermal stability and fire behavior have been studied. Results on the interaction between flame retardants and layered silicates were provided as well as detailed investigation of the char strength, which has been carried out using a suitably developed method based on dynamic-mechanic analysis.Generally, the thermo-oxidative stability in presence of layered silicates was higher than the counterparts even if an additive rather than synergic effect took place; however, in some cases the interaction between clays and phosphinate led to a significant decrease of weight residue. In nitrogen the residue amounts were about the same but a higher amount of phosphorus was retained in the solid phase in presence of clays. Cone calorimeter results showed that the use of phosphinates led to a decrease of the PHRR; further addition of clays did not reduce the PHRR owing to the worse quality of char layer as demonstrated by the char strength test. However, it has been shown that the partial substitution of aluminum phosphinate with melamine cyanurate gave improved results: the AlPi–MelCy filled foams showed similar pHRR and THE but lower TSR and higher char strength than AlPi filled foams. It was also confirmed that phosphinate acted by flame inhibition but its action was depressed by the use of nanoclays owing to their interaction.

A new model to predict pyrolysis, ignition and burning of flammable materials in fire tests

New comprehensive model, Pyropolis, aimed to predict performance of polymer composite materials exposed to radiative heating is presented, and a procedure to derive kinetic model of material thermal decomposition from either TGA or MCC measurements is introduced. In this procedure we do not pre-assume a kinetic function, but derive it from the measurements thereby achieving model validity in a wide range of heating rates. The Pyropolis model is capable of predicting thermal decomposition of both charring and non-charring polymers; in case of charring polymers, material intumescence is assumed to be controlled by the amount of char produced in decomposition reactions, given the intrinsic char porosity. Current version of the Pyropolis model has been calibrated and favorably validated for three types of flammable materials: non-charring polymer (high impact polystyrene), charring intumescent polymer (BPA polycarbonate), and the fiber-reinforced resin composite, all exposed to external heat flux. The model is demonstrated to be able of predicting test outcome (time to ignition, peak and average heat release rate) with a reasonable accuracy, provided material properties and test conditions are adequately identified. Sensitivity studies revealed the model components which have the most pronounced effect on the predictions. Sample surface emissivity, expansion propensity, and char layer conductivity are the key parameters controlling simulation results for charring polymers. For non-charring polymers, volumetric radiation absorption and availability of black coating film are important factors affecting the rate of virgin material gasification.