Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

A semi-exact solution of the Arrhenius temperature integral is the basis for a new method to determine the effective kinetic parameters (activation energy and frequency factor) for first-order thermal decomposition processes from the maximum mass loss/heat release rate and the temperature at maximum mass loss/heat release rate recorded during a single thermogravimetric/microscale combustion calorimetric experiment at a constant heating rate that is characteristic of fires. Results for kinetic parameters determined by the single-point method are compared to kinetic parameters determined by other non-isothermal analysis methods with favorable results.