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Title: Pyrolysis and gasification of coal at high temperatures

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6035255

The systematic investigation on the effects of pyrolysis conditions and char macropore structure on char reactivity continued. During the past quarter, we concentrated our efforts on studying the reactivity of chars devolatilized in reactive atmospheres and under pyrolysis conditions encountered in mild gasification processes. Pyrolysis and gasification experiments were performed consecutively in our TGA/VMI reactor. After pyrolyzing the coal particles to a final heat treatment temperature of 500 {degree}C, the char reactivity patterns were measured at three temperatures (420, 450 and 500 {degree}C). The lower heat treatment temperatures employed for these experiments (500 {degree}C or close to mild gasification conditions) resulted in more reactive chars. We compared the reactivities of chars pyrolyzed in inert (N{sub 2}) and reactive (O{sub 2}/N{sub 2}) atmospheres in both the kinetic and the diffusion limited regime. Significant differences in the reactivity of these two groups of chars were found in the diffusion limited regime. Finally, we used the microscopy of our thermogravimetric reactor to monitor the structure transformations occurring during pyrolysis with oxygen. Pyrolysis experiments were videotaped and particle swelling, particle ignitions and fragmentation were determined and analyzed using digitized images from these experiments. 5 figs., 1 tab.

Research Organization:
Rice Univ., Houston, TX (USA). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
FG22-87PC79930
OSTI ID:
6035255
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/79930-T5; ON: DE91008957
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English