Kinetic Modeling of the Polychloroprene Pyrolysis Under Nitrogen Atmosphere

• DOI: 10.1007/s12649-010-9054-2
• Publication Date: 2010-12-08T04:15:41Z
• Authors: Yannick Soudais; Cristina Şerbănescu; Florent Lemont; Jean-Claude Poussin; Gheorghe Soare; Grigore Bozga
• Keywords: Bar (unit); Neoprene

In the present work it was performed the pyrolysis of polychloroprene (produced by Aldrich) in two types of experimental apparatus differentiated by the sample size they could work with. The first experimental device was a TG-DTA analyzer and the second one was a higher capacity thermo-balance placed inside a furnace (so-called “Aubry”). The experimental conditions were the following: temperatures up to 1,000°C and atmospheric pressure (1 bar), atmosphere of flowing nitrogen, three different heating rates (5, 10 and 15 K/min for the “Aubry” furnace and 10, 20 and 30 K/min for the TG-DTA) and two different quantities of samples (10 g for the first set-up and 10 mg for the second one). The mass loss of solid samples showed similar time evolutions for both devices. It indicated a first period of dehydrochloruration in the temperature range 300 - 400°C followed by the pyrolysis of intermediary products in the temperature range 400–550°C yielding gaseous and liquid volatiles fraction and a black carbonaceous char. Two kinetic models from literature were tested in order to describe the weight loss kinetics of polychloroprene during the pyrolysis process: an empirical one which considered three organic fractions decomposing separately and a more detailed one involving 191 reactions and 38 species (molecules and radicals). It was found that for the TG-DTA experiments both models are appropriate while for the “Aubry” furnace it would be necessary to use a modified kinetic model which takes into account the heat transfer.