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Title: Co-pyrolysis of low rank coals and biomass: Product distributions

Abstract

Pyrolysis and gasification of combined low rank coal and biomass feeds are the subject of much study in an effort to mitigate the production of green house gases from integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) systems. While co-feeding has the potential to reduce the net carbon footprint of commercial gasification operations, the effects of co-feeding on kinetics and product distributions requires study to ensure the success of this strategy. Southern yellow pine was pyrolyzed in a semi-batch type drop tube reactor with either Powder River Basin sub-bituminous coal or Mississippi lignite at several temperatures and feed ratios. Product gas composition of expected primary constituents (CO, CO{sub 2}, CH{sub 4}, H{sub 2}, H{sub 2}O, and C{sub 2}H{sub 4}) was determined by in-situ mass spectrometry while minor gaseous constituents were determined using a GC-MS. Product distributions are fit to linear functions of temperature, and quadratic functions of biomass fraction, for use in computational co-pyrolysis simulations. The results are shown to yield significant nonlinearities, particularly at higher temperatures and for lower ranked coals. The co-pyrolysis product distributions evolve more tar, and less char, CH{sub 4}, and C{sub 2}H{sub 4}, than an additive pyrolysis process would suggest. For lignite co-pyrolysis, CO and H{sub 2} productionmore » are also reduced. The data suggests that evolution of hydrogen from rapid pyrolysis of biomass prevents the crosslinking of fragmented aromatic structures during coal pyrolysis to produce tar, rather than secondary char and light gases. Finally, it is shown that, for the two coal types tested, co-pyrolysis synergies are more significant as coal rank decreases, likely because the initial structure in these coals contains larger pores and smaller clusters of aromatic structures which are more readily retained as tar in rapid co-pyrolysis.« less

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, and Morgantown, WV (United States). In-house Research; National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
OSTI Identifier:
1124595
Report Number(s):
A-CONTR-PUB-001
Journal ID: ISSN 0016-2361
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-FE0004000
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Fuel
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 112; Journal ID: ISSN 0016-2361
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT; 09 BIOMASS FUELS; coal; biomass; co-pyrolysis; low rank coal

Citation Formats

Soncini, Ryan M., Means, Nicholas C., and Weiland, Nathan T. Co-pyrolysis of low rank coals and biomass: Product distributions. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2013.04.073.
Soncini, Ryan M., Means, Nicholas C., & Weiland, Nathan T. Co-pyrolysis of low rank coals and biomass: Product distributions. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2013.04.073
Soncini, Ryan M., Means, Nicholas C., and Weiland, Nathan T. 2013. "Co-pyrolysis of low rank coals and biomass: Product distributions". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2013.04.073. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1124595.
@article{osti_1124595,
title = {Co-pyrolysis of low rank coals and biomass: Product distributions},
author = {Soncini, Ryan M. and Means, Nicholas C. and Weiland, Nathan T.},
abstractNote = {Pyrolysis and gasification of combined low rank coal and biomass feeds are the subject of much study in an effort to mitigate the production of green house gases from integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) systems. While co-feeding has the potential to reduce the net carbon footprint of commercial gasification operations, the effects of co-feeding on kinetics and product distributions requires study to ensure the success of this strategy. Southern yellow pine was pyrolyzed in a semi-batch type drop tube reactor with either Powder River Basin sub-bituminous coal or Mississippi lignite at several temperatures and feed ratios. Product gas composition of expected primary constituents (CO, CO{sub 2}, CH{sub 4}, H{sub 2}, H{sub 2}O, and C{sub 2}H{sub 4}) was determined by in-situ mass spectrometry while minor gaseous constituents were determined using a GC-MS. Product distributions are fit to linear functions of temperature, and quadratic functions of biomass fraction, for use in computational co-pyrolysis simulations. The results are shown to yield significant nonlinearities, particularly at higher temperatures and for lower ranked coals. The co-pyrolysis product distributions evolve more tar, and less char, CH{sub 4}, and C{sub 2}H{sub 4}, than an additive pyrolysis process would suggest. For lignite co-pyrolysis, CO and H{sub 2} production are also reduced. The data suggests that evolution of hydrogen from rapid pyrolysis of biomass prevents the crosslinking of fragmented aromatic structures during coal pyrolysis to produce tar, rather than secondary char and light gases. Finally, it is shown that, for the two coal types tested, co-pyrolysis synergies are more significant as coal rank decreases, likely because the initial structure in these coals contains larger pores and smaller clusters of aromatic structures which are more readily retained as tar in rapid co-pyrolysis.},
doi = {10.1016/j.fuel.2013.04.073},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1124595}, journal = {Fuel},
issn = {0016-2361},
number = ,
volume = 112,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013},
month = {Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013}
}