Pyrolysis Mechanism of Victorian Brown Coal Under Microwave and Conventional Conditions for Hydrogen-Rich Gas Production

Quan Sun, Salman Khoshk Rish, Jianglong Yu and Arash Tahmasebi ()
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Quan Sun: School of Engineering, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Salman Khoshk Rish: School of Engineering, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Jianglong Yu: Suzhou Industrial Park Monash Research Institute of Science and Technology, Southeast University–Monash University Joint Graduate School, Suzhou 215000, China
Arash Tahmasebi: School of Engineering, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-26

Abstract: Fast microwave pyrolysis technology can effectively convert brown coal into hydrogen-rich syngas. However, the unique pyrolysis behaviour of brown coal under microwave conditions is not fully understood in comparison with conventional pyrolysis. This study used Victorian brown coal as a raw material to conduct pyrolysis experiments under conventional and microwave heating methods. The results demonstrate that the microwave-assisted pyrolysis of Victorian brown coal can selectively crack polar functional groups, enhancing H 2 and CO production via radical-driven secondary reactions and gasification, while conventional heating favours the formation of tar containing phenols and fewer aromatic compounds. The result is a high-quality syngas (75.03 vol.%) with a hydrogen yield of 10.28 (mmol Gas/g Coal (daf)) at 700 °C under microwave heating, offering a scalable route for valorising low-rank coals.

Keywords: brown coal; pyrolysis; microwave heating; hydrogen; syngas (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: 2025
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