Process and kinetics of thermal decomposition of humic acid were studied with TG-DTG techniques. Thermal decomposition temperature of humic acid was in the range of 284.65-417.16℃. The structure of humic acid was characterized with FT-IR
1H NMR and 13C NMR. The kinetic parameters
including activation energy and pre-exponential factor of the thermal decomposition process of humic acid were calculated with the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO)
Kissinger and Šatava-Šesták method respectively. Activation energy and logarithmic value of pre-exponential factor were found to be 210.83 kJ·mol-1 and 17.55
respectively. Moreover
reaction order and mechanism of thermal decomposition and thermodynamic parameters were also studied. Thermal decomposition of humic acid was a second-order reaction
and the mechanism of the decomposition process was obtained. The maximal used temperature of humic acid maintaining one-minute lifetime in N2 atmosphere was 278℃. Meanwhile