• Energy Research

Abstract In the oxy-coal combustion steam system (OCCSS), the demineralized coal is consumed by reacting with O2 and steam. The stability and efficiency of demineralized coal combustion at high steam concentrations could be a critical issue to the development of mature OCCSS technology. In this study, Zhundong coal and its acid-washed sample were used for conducting experiments. Pyrolysis chars were firstly prepared from the raw coal and the demineralized coal in a high-temperature drop tube furnace at 1200 °C. The effects of the reaction atmosphere (O2/steam and O2/N2) and temperature (1100–1400 °C) on the combustion characteristics of the two char samples were then investigated. The results show that compared to the char from pyrolysis of raw coal, the char from demineralized coal contained abundant macropores with low specific surface area. For the pyrolysis char from demineralized coal at 1200 °C, the steam-char gasification reaction rate was significantly lower than that of O2-char reaction. The presence of high concentration of steam could alter the heat/mass transfer on the char surface, thus indirectly reducing the rate of O2-char reactions. The combustion of char without minerals in an O2/steam atmosphere accelerated significantly with increasing temperature, while the increase in combustion rate with increasing reaction temperature for char containing minerals was very limited. The steam-char gasification reaction of demineralized char at 1300 °C has promoted the carbon conversion of char. The demineralized char combustion reaction required a relatively high oxygen concentration (i.e. above 40%) to show high burning rate.

Abstract In the oxy-coal combustion steam system (OCCSS), the demineralized coal is consumed by reacting with O2 and steam. The stability and efficiency of demineralized coal combustion at high steam concentrations could be a critical issue to the development of mature OCCSS technology. In this study, Zhundong coal and its acid-washed sample were used for conducting experiments. Pyrolysis chars were firstly prepared from the raw coal and the demineralized coal in a high-temperature drop tube furnace at 1200 °C. The effects of the reaction atmosphere (O2/steam and O2/N2) and temperature (1100–1400 °C) on the combustion characteristics of the two char samples were then investigated. The results show that compared to the char from pyrolysis of raw coal, the char from demineralized coal contained abundant macropores with low specific surface area. For the pyrolysis char from demineralized coal at 1200 °C, the steam-char gasification reaction rate was significantly lower than that of O2-char reaction. The presence of high concentration of steam could alter the heat/mass transfer on the char surface, thus indirectly reducing the rate of O2-char reactions. The combustion of char without minerals in an O2/steam atmosphere accelerated significantly with increasing temperature, while the increase in combustion rate with increasing reaction temperature for char containing minerals was very limited. The steam-char gasification reaction of demineralized char at 1300 °C has promoted the carbon conversion of char. The demineralized char combustion reaction required a relatively high oxygen concentration (i.e. above 40%) to show high burning rate.

It remains challenging to develop a techno-economically feasible method to remove alkali and alkaline earth metal species (AAEMs) from rice husk (RH), which is a widely available bioresource across the world. In this study, the AAEMs leaching effect of aqueous phases of both bio-crude prepared by hydrothermal liquefaction (AP-HT) and bio-oil prepared by pyrolysis (AP-Pyro) of RH were systematically investigated. The results indicated that although the acidity of AP-HT and AP-Pyro are much lower than that of HCl, they performed a comparable removal efficiency on AAEMs (Na: 56.2%, K: 96.7%, Mg: 91.0%, Ca: 46.1% for AP-HT, while Na: 58.9%, K: 96.9%, Mg: 94.0%, Ca: 86.3% for AP-Pyro) with HCl. The presence of phenolics in bio-oil could facilitate the penetration of water and organic acids into the inner area of RH cells, thus enhancing the AAEMs removal via chelate reactions. The thermal stability of leached RH during thermochemical conversions was studied via TG and Py-GC-MS. The results showed that the heat conduction efficiency in leached RH was enhanced with a high pyrolysis rate, resulting in a narrow carbon chain distribution (C5–C10) of derived chemical compounds.

It remains challenging to develop a techno-economically feasible method to remove alkali and alkaline earth metal species (AAEMs) from rice husk (RH), which is a widely available bioresource across the world. In this study, the AAEMs leaching effect of aqueous phases of both bio-crude prepared by hydrothermal liquefaction (AP-HT) and bio-oil prepared by pyrolysis (AP-Pyro) of RH were systematically investigated. The results indicated that although the acidity of AP-HT and AP-Pyro are much lower than that of HCl, they performed a comparable removal efficiency on AAEMs (Na: 56.2%, K: 96.7%, Mg: 91.0%, Ca: 46.1% for AP-HT, while Na: 58.9%, K: 96.9%, Mg: 94.0%, Ca: 86.3% for AP-Pyro) with HCl. The presence of phenolics in bio-oil could facilitate the penetration of water and organic acids into the inner area of RH cells, thus enhancing the AAEMs removal via chelate reactions. The thermal stability of leached RH during thermochemical conversions was studied via TG and Py-GC-MS. The results showed that the heat conduction efficiency in leached RH was enhanced with a high pyrolysis rate, resulting in a narrow carbon chain distribution (C5–C10) of derived chemical compounds.

Abstract This study aims to examine the char-steam reactions in-situ, following the pyrolysis process of a demineralized coal in a micro fluidized bed reactor, with particular focuses on gas release and its kinetics characteristics. The main experimental variables were temperatures (925 °C−1075 °C) and steam concentrations (15%–35% H2O), and the combination of pyrolysis and subsequent gasification in one experiment was achieved switching the atmosphere from pure argon to steam and argon mixture. The results indicate that when temperature was higher than 975 °C, the absolute carbon conversion rate during the char gasification could easily reach 100%. When temperature was 1025 °C and 1075 °C, the carbon conversion rate changed little with steam concentration increasing from 25% to 35%. The activation energy calculated from shrinking core model and random pore model was all between 186 and 194 kJ/mol, and the fitting accuracy of shrinking core model was higher than that of the random pore model in this study. The char reactivity from demineralized coal pyrolysis gradually worsened with decreasing temperature and steam partial pressure. The range of reaction order of steam gasification was 0.49–0.61. Compared to raw coal, the progress of water gas shift reaction (CO + H2O ↔ CO2 + H2) was hindered during the steam gasification of char obtained from the demineralized coal pyrolysis. Meanwhile, the gas content from the char gasification after the demineralized coal pyrolysis showed a low sensitivity to the change in temperature.

Abstract This study aims to examine the char-steam reactions in-situ, following the pyrolysis process of a demineralized coal in a micro fluidized bed reactor, with particular focuses on gas release and its kinetics characteristics. The main experimental variables were temperatures (925 °C−1075 °C) and steam concentrations (15%–35% H2O), and the combination of pyrolysis and subsequent gasification in one experiment was achieved switching the atmosphere from pure argon to steam and argon mixture. The results indicate that when temperature was higher than 975 °C, the absolute carbon conversion rate during the char gasification could easily reach 100%. When temperature was 1025 °C and 1075 °C, the carbon conversion rate changed little with steam concentration increasing from 25% to 35%. The activation energy calculated from shrinking core model and random pore model was all between 186 and 194 kJ/mol, and the fitting accuracy of shrinking core model was higher than that of the random pore model in this study. The char reactivity from demineralized coal pyrolysis gradually worsened with decreasing temperature and steam partial pressure. The range of reaction order of steam gasification was 0.49–0.61. Compared to raw coal, the progress of water gas shift reaction (CO + H2O ↔ CO2 + H2) was hindered during the steam gasification of char obtained from the demineralized coal pyrolysis. Meanwhile, the gas content from the char gasification after the demineralized coal pyrolysis showed a low sensitivity to the change in temperature.

The high content of nitrogen in hydrochar produced from hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of sewage sludge (SS) leads to serious NOx pollution when the hydrochar is used as a solid fuel. Mg-Ga layered double hydroxides (LDHs), Mg-Al LDHs and their calcined samples (layered double oxides, LDO) were prepared. The LDHs and LDO all can notably promote the removal of nitrogen element, in which organic-N was transferred to NH4+-N to cause increasing pH value. Mg-Al LDO showed the highest efficiency for the removal of nitrogen among the catalysts. The thermal decomposition of the N-organic matter with acidic sites in catalyst was the key step to release NH3. The key role of basic sites in Mg-Al LDO was that it can effectively destroy the cell wall and extracellular polymeric substances structure. The lipid-like substance did not participate in the carbonization reaction, but they can be absorbed by the hydrochar. Partial SS floc directly transformed to hydrochar according to "solid-solid" reaction. The reaction pathways of remove nitrogen were proposed.

The high content of nitrogen in hydrochar produced from hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of sewage sludge (SS) leads to serious NOx pollution when the hydrochar is used as a solid fuel. Mg-Ga layered double hydroxides (LDHs), Mg-Al LDHs and their calcined samples (layered double oxides, LDO) were prepared. The LDHs and LDO all can notably promote the removal of nitrogen element, in which organic-N was transferred to NH4+-N to cause increasing pH value. Mg-Al LDO showed the highest efficiency for the removal of nitrogen among the catalysts. The thermal decomposition of the N-organic matter with acidic sites in catalyst was the key step to release NH3. The key role of basic sites in Mg-Al LDO was that it can effectively destroy the cell wall and extracellular polymeric substances structure. The lipid-like substance did not participate in the carbonization reaction, but they can be absorbed by the hydrochar. Partial SS floc directly transformed to hydrochar according to "solid-solid" reaction. The reaction pathways of remove nitrogen were proposed.