skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Roles of additives and surface control in slurry atomization

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6703119· OSTI ID:6703119

This project studies the rheology and airblast atomization of micronized coal slurries. Its major objectives are (1) to promote further understanding of the mechanisms and the roles of additives in airblast atomization of coal water slurry (CWS), and (2) to investigate the impacts of coal particle surface properties and interparticle forces on CWS rheology. We have found that the flow behavior index (n) of a suspension (or slurry) is determined by the relative importance of the interparticle van der Waals attraction and the interparticle electrostatic repulsion. The interparticle attraction, measured by the Hamaker constant scaled to the thermal energy at 25[degrees]C (A/kT), causes particle aggregation, which breaks down at high shear rates, and thus leads to slurry pseudoplastic behavior (n< 1). At a constant particle volume fraction and surface charge density (qualitatively measured by the zeta potential in deionized water), n decreases linearly as A/kT increases. The relative viscosity of the pseudoplastic suspension with respect to that of the suspending liquid is found to be independent of particle density and correlate well with the particle Peclet number which equals the particle diffusional relaxation time multiplied by shear rate. Specifically, the relative viscosities of the pseudoplastic glycerol/water coal slurry and the ethylene glycol/glycerol sand slurry, at same volume fractions as well as similar particle size distributions and liquid viscosities, as functions of the particle Peclet number fall along the same line.

Research Organization:
California State Univ., Long Beach, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
FG22-88PC88912
OSTI ID:
6703119
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/88912-T20; ON: DE93012262
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English