Thermogravimetric and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses were performed to quantify the pyrolysis performances, kinetics, thermodynamics, products and optimization of incense sticks (IS) in N-2 and CO2 atmospheres at five heating rates. The increased heating rate caused a lagged IS pyrolysis, moving its curves to a higher temperature. According to four model-free methods, activation energy estimates ranged from 34.17 to 439.19 kJ.mol(-1) and 28.46-187.34 kJ.mol(-1) in the N-2 and CO2 atmospheres, respectively. The three-dimension diffusion (spherical symmetry) (D3) was determined using the Horowitz-Metzger method as the most probable degradation mechanism in both atmospheres. The main pyrolytic products were found as benzene and its derivatives whose mass accounted for 49.94% of the total 18 products. Significant two-way interaction effects were found between temperature, heating rate, and atmosphere type on the three responses of remaining mass, derivative thermogravimetry, and differential scanning calorimetry (p = 0.001). The best joint optimization was obtained at 899.5 degrees C with the heating rate of 5 degrees C.min(-1) in the CO2 atmosphere and was more sensitive to the increased heating rate in the N-2 than CO2 atmosphere. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.