The independent parallel reaction model (IPR model) is applied in this work to study the slow dynamic pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse, based on a thermogravimetric analysis of three ranges of particle diameters. The kinetic parameters and mass fraction of each principal pseudo-component of biomass (hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin) are estimated using the Differential Evolution Algorithm. A comparison of the estimated mass fractions and Arrhenius parameters against experimental values reported in the literature shows good agreement. The influence of various kinetic parameters of the model is also analyzed by means of sensitivity studies using derivative methods based on the DASPK 3.0 code. The results of the relative parametric sensitivity indicate that activation energies affect bagasse conversion more strongly than other parameters, followed by the pre-exponential factors of Arrhenius equation and mass fractions. The sensitivity of the IPR kinetic model to the orders of reaction is very slight. (C) 2012 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.