Thermochimica Acta, 65 (1983) 333-350 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands 333 THE EFFECTS OF IMPERFECT TEMPERATURE PROGRAMMING ON THE KINETIC EVALUATION OF THERMOANALYTICAL CURVES. PART 3. ERROR BOUNDS FOR THE ACTIVATION ENERGY AND THE FORMAL REACTION ORDER GABOR VARHEGYI Hungarian Academy zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA of Sciences, Research Laboratory for Inorganic Chemistry, P.O. Box 132, Budapest 1SO2 (Hungaryl (Received 30 December 1982) ABSTRACT The difference between the actual and the measured temperature of the sample examined distorts the estimated values of the kinetic parameters. This distortion has been analysed in the instances of simple parameter estimation methods. The results obtained can help to judge the correctness of the kinetic evaluation of the non-isothermal measurements. NOTATION A c, C and C’ E f(x) g(x) G(x,Jz) h, h’ and h” W4l42) R t T zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA X 6 E pre-exponential factor constants in approximate equations activation energy function expressing the dependence of dx/dt on x integral of l/f(x) from 0 to x integral of l/f(x) from x, to x2 constants defining the highest deviation between the known and the true temperatures of the sample ~ntdWg(-4 gas constant time temperature reacted mole fraction indicates the error of a given quantity error term in an approximate equation Superscripted symbols TO x0(t) the known (measured) temperature of the sample the solution of the kinetic differential equation when T- To(t) 0040-6031/83/$03.00 0 1983 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.