Abstract
The derivations of the formulas for heat release rate calculations are revisited based on the oxygen consumption principle. A systematic, structured, and pedagogical approach to formulate the problem and derive the generalized formulas with fewer assumptions is used. The operation of oxygen consumption calorimetry is treated as a chemical flow process, the problem is formulated in matrix notation, and the associated material balances using the tie component concept commonly used in chemical engineering practices are solved. The derivation procedure described is intuitive and easy to follow. Inclusion of other chemical species in the measurements and calculations can be easily implemented using the generalized framework developed here.