Co-Combustion Studies of Low-Rank Coal and Refuse-Derived Fuel: Performance and Reaction Kinetics

Mudassar Azam, Asma Ashraf, Saman Setoodeh Jahromy, Sajjad Miran, Nadeem Raza, Florian Wesenauer, Christian Jordan, Michael Harasek and Franz Winter
Additional contact information
Mudassar Azam: Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, Vienna University of Technology (TU WIEN), Getreidemarkt 9, 1060 Vienna, Austria
Asma Ashraf: Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology (ICET), University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
Saman Setoodeh Jahromy: Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, Vienna University of Technology (TU WIEN), Getreidemarkt 9, 1060 Vienna, Austria
Sajjad Miran: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Gujrat, Gujrat 50700, Pakistan
Nadeem Raza: Department of Chemistry, Emerson University Multan, Multan 60000, Pakistan
Florian Wesenauer: Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, Vienna University of Technology (TU WIEN), Getreidemarkt 9, 1060 Vienna, Austria
Christian Jordan: Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, Vienna University of Technology (TU WIEN), Getreidemarkt 9, 1060 Vienna, Austria
Michael Harasek: Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, Vienna University of Technology (TU WIEN), Getreidemarkt 9, 1060 Vienna, Austria
Franz Winter: Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, Vienna University of Technology (TU WIEN), Getreidemarkt 9, 1060 Vienna, Austria

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-13

Abstract: In connection to present energy demand and waste management crisis in Pakistan, refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is gaining importance as a potential co-fuel for existing coal fired power plants. This research focuses on the co-combustion of low-quality local coal with RDF as a mean to reduce environmental issues in terms of waste management strategy. The combustion characteristics and kinetics of coal, RDF, and their blends were experimentally investigated in a micro-thermal gravimetric analyzer at four heating rates of 10, 20, 30, and 40 °C/min to ramp the temperature from 25 °C to 1000 °C. The mass percentages of RDF in the coal blends were 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%, respectively. The results show that as the RDF in blends increases, the reactivity of the blends increases, resulting in lower ignition temperatures and a shift in peak and burnout temperatures to a lower temperature zone. This indicates that there was certain interaction during the combustion process of coal and RDF. The activation energies of the samples were calculated using kinetic analysis based on Kissinger–Akahira–Sunnose (KAS) and Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO), isoconversional methods. Both of the methods have produced closer results with average activation energy between 95–121 kJ/mol. With a 30% refuse-derived fuel proportion, the average activation energy of blends hit a minimum value of 95 kJ/mol by KAS method and 103 kJ/mol by FWO method.

Keywords: waste to energy; refuse-derived fuel; co-combustion; kinetics; low-rank coal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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