Distribution of Clay Minerals in Light Coal Fractions and the Thermal Reaction Products of These Clay Minerals during Combustion in a Drop Tube Furnace

Sida Tian, Yuqun Zhuo, Zhonghua Zhan, Xinqian Shu and Zhizhong Kang
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Sida Tian: Key Laboratory of Condition Monitoring and Control for Power Plant Equipment of Ministry of Education, School of Energy, Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
Yuqun Zhuo: Key Laboratory for Thermal Science and Power Engineering of Ministry of Education, Thermal Engineering Department, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Zhonghua Zhan: Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute for Clean and Secure Energy, University of Utah, 50 South Central Campus Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
Xinqian Shu: School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
Zhizhong Kang: Key Laboratory of Condition Monitoring and Control for Power Plant Equipment of Ministry of Education, School of Energy, Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China

Energies, 2016, vol. 9, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: To estimate the contribution of clay minerals in light coal fractions to ash deposition in furnaces, we investigated their distribution and thermal reaction products. The light fractions of two Chinese coals were prepared using a 1.5 g·cm ?3 ZnCl 2 solution as a density separation medium and were burned in a drop-tube furnace (DTF). The mineral matter in each of the light coal fractions was compared to that of the relevant raw coal. The DTF ash from light coal fractions was analysed using hydrochloric acid separation. The acid-soluble aluminium fractions of DTF ash samples were used to determine changes in the amorphous aluminosilicate products with increasing combustion temperature. The results show that the clay mineral contents in the mineral matter of both light coal fractions were higher than those in the respective raw coals. For the coal with a high ash melting point, clay minerals in the light coal fraction thermally transformed more dehydroxylation products compared with those in the raw coal, possibly contributing to solid-state reactions of ash particles. For the coal with a low ash melting point, clay minerals in the light coal fraction produced more easily-slagging material compared with those in the raw coal, playing an important role in the occurrence of slagging. Additionally, ferrous oxide often produces low-melting substances in coal ash. Due to the similarities of zinc oxide and ferrous oxide in silicate reactions, we also investigated the interactions of clay minerals in light coal fractions with zinc oxide introduced by a zinc chloride solution. The extraneous zinc oxide could react, to a small extent, with clay minerals in the coal during DTF combustion.

Keywords: coal slagging characteristics; ash formation; aluminosilicate components; mineral matter distribution; density separation (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: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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