Emissions of PM10 from the co-combustion of high-Ca pyrolyzed biochar and high-Si coal under air and oxyfuel atmosphere

The single or co-combustion experiments of high-Ca pyrolyzed biochar and high-Si coal were carried out on a drop tube furnace (DTF) at 1300 °C under air and oxyfuel (CO₂:O₂=50:50, oxy50) conditions. The produced PM₁₀ (of an aerodynamic diameter of 10 µm or less) was analyzed to investigate the interactions during co-combustion. Due to the characteristics of the selected samples (low S and Cl), the PM₁ emissions including PM_0.1 and PM_0.1–1 are very low during single combustion, except for the PM_0.1–1 emission during the combustion of biochar under oxy50 condition because of the massive partitioning of Mg, Ca and Fe. The interaction during co-combustion was observed to mainly occur in the generation of PM_1–10, and also slightly occur in the formation of PM_0.1–1 under oxy50 condition. The capture of Mg, Ca, and Fe from biochar by the Si-containing minerals in coal under the oxy50 condition results in a slight decrease in PM_0.1–1 during co-combustion. The higher the proportion of coal blended, the more obvious the reduction of elements. As for the formation of PM_1–10 during co-combustion, high-melting minerals of biochar would weaken the coalescence of minerals in coal to cause more PM₁₀, while the large mineral grains of coal would capture the minerals in biochar to generate more PM₁₀₊. Under the competition of the above two types of interactions, the experimental value of PM_1–10 yields was almost consistent with the theoretically calculated value, except for blended ratio of 80:20 (coal: biochar, air) or 50:50 (oxy50) with prior interaction predominating.