Low-temperature pyrolysis is a possible method for the disposal of wood waste treated with chromated copper arsenic (CCA). A mathematical model (heat and mass transfer) including chemical reactions of the thermal degradation of a particle of wood is presented. A spherical particle is heated by a convective nitrogen flow. The progress of the pyrolysis process is characterized by three main steps: (1) drying of the wet sample; (2) heating of the sample until ignition of pyrolysis reactions; (3) pyrolysis and subsequent production of char and volatiles. The mathematical model is based on the volume averaging concept and it uses Shafizadeh and Chin [F. Shafizadeh, P.S. Chin, Thermal deterioration of wood, wood technology: chemical aspects. ACS Symposium Series 43 (1977) 57-81] pyrolysis model to describe the reaction pathway. It is solved by the line method, taking time as the preferred variable. Our model predicts intra-particle profiles for several variables (temperature, moisture content, concentration of wood). Simulations are presented with a spherical particle of 1 cm radius. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.