Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) is addressed as a transient kinetic tool to understand chemical and physical processes on heterogeneous catalysts. The two main implementations of TPD (atmospheric flow-through TPD and vacuum TPD) require different considerations and models. In this work a systematized process of TPD modeling is presented, a set of preliminary experiments is proposed for collecting data free of artifacts, and a scheme for selecting a suitable reactor/cell model is developed. The reactor model selection and mathematical modeling are demonstrated for interaction of toluene with H-ZSM-5 catalyst measured in both types of setups. Novel models for interpreting TPD data are presented and applied to determine parameters for sorption and diffusion in a zeolite pellet. Intrinsic descriptions and determined parameters agree for different TPD systems, underlining the significance of valid reactor/cell models. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.