The pyrolysis kinetics of cellulosic toilet tissue paper, which is one of the principal materials contributing to municipal solid waste (MSW) in Taiwan, was investigated by a thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) reaction system. The experiments were carried out over the temperature range of 450-850 K at various heating rates, and in a nitrogen atmosphere. The results indicated that there were two principal reactions in TGA curves as distinguished by the two significant and distinct weight changes over the experimental conditions. The pyrolysis behavior of tissue paper can be adequately described by a two reaction model. The corresponding activation energies, pre-exponential factors, and reaction orders were determined. The experimental results were satisfactorily fitted by the proposed chemical reaction model.
