Experimental and modeling study on centimeter pine char combustion in fast-heating Macro TGA

Biomass energy is an important renewable resource, and thermochemical conversion, including pyrolysis and combustion, is one of the main methods of biomass energy utilization. In industrial reactors, the biomass particles will experience a fast heating (∼1000 °C/min) process during pyrolysis. The particle size of biomass applied in industry has a wide range (from millimeter to centimeter scale). The study of the reaction characteristics of biomass pyrolysis and combustion is helpful for optimizing furnace design and working condition selection. In this research, the combustion of centimeter-scale pine char was studied with a newly built fast-heating Macro Thermal Gravimetric Analyzer (Macro TGA). This Macro TGA is able to conduct the pyrolysis and combustion of large biomass samples (up to 40 mm) with a fast heating rate (∼1000 °C/min), which is able to reflect the working conditions in industrial-scale reactors such as grate furnaces and dual fluidized beds. This Macro TGA can measure the online sample weight, temperature and sample size simultaneously during pyrolysis and combustion experiments. The combustion characteristics of different sizes of pine chars were investigated at various temperatures and oxygen concentrations. A zero-dimensional model was established to predict the sample weight loss, temperature change and sample shrinkage during the pine char combustion process. Three kinetic parameters α, A and E were applied in the model, and the values of the kinetic parameters were optimized by a genetic algorithm. The model prediction and experimental results are consistent with each other. Compared with previous studies, this study developed a new experimental method to measure the reaction characteristics (including sample weight, temperature and size) of centimeter-scale biomass under similar pyrolysis and combustion reaction conditions compared to industrial reactors, and a zero-dimensional model was established to describe the pine char combustion process.     

Non-isothermal kinetics of styrene-butadiene-styrene asphalt combustion

The combustion characteristics of styrene-butadiene-styrene （SBS） asphalt are studied by thermogravimetric analysis （TG/DTG） at four different heating rates. According to the saturates/aromatics/resins/asphaltenes （SARA） fractionation method, the combustion process of SBS asphalt can be divided by Gaussian peak fitting into three main stages： oil content release, resin pyrolysis, and asphaltene and char combustion. When the heating rate increases, the mass losses of the oil content and resin pyrolysis increase, and less asphaltenes are formed at a higher temperature. The activation energy values are calculated by the Coats-Redfern method to be in the range 61.6 kJ/mol-142.9 kJ/mol. The Popescu method is used for the kinetic analysis, and the result shows that the three stages of asphalt combustion can be explained by the sphere phase boundary reaction model, the second order chemical reaction model, nucleation, and its subsequent growth model, respectively.     

Method to obtain carbon nano-onions by pyrolisys of propane

We present a new and simple method for carbon nano-onions (CNOs) production which is based on the pyrolysis of Propane. CNOs are originated in a laminar premixed Propane/Oxygen flame of approximately 1.8 of stoichiometric coefficient. The stream of gasses resulting from the combustion drives the carbon particles towards the aluminium surface on which nano-onions are deposited and collected. The structure and size of the deposited carbon onion on the metal wall are characterized by High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy technique (HRTEM). The experimental images show the presence of two different types of CNOs. The first particles have diameters in the range of 18-25 nm and the second ones around 10 nm.     

An enthalpy-temperature hybrid method for solving phase-change problems and its application to polymer pyrolysis and ignition

A numerical approach based on the enthalpy method is proposed for solving generalized phase-change problems. The method is applied to predict pyrolysis and ignition of polymeric combustible materials. In contrast to the traditional approach, here both enthalpy and temperature are treated as independent variables, and the conservation equations are solved simultaneously in conjunction with the constitutive equations. Also, the formulation of the constitutive equations for the phase change is not necessarily the same for all of the possible phases, but can be chosen independently according to the characteristics of the physical problem and the requirements of the numerical analysis of each respective phase. Thus with this new approach, which we refer to as the enthalpy-temperature hybrid method, the enthalpy method is applicable to the generalized phase-change problems regardless of the form of the constitutive equations. The proposed method is first applied to a one-dimensional classical freezing problem for verification. It is found that the numerical results for the temperature history and the position of the phase-change interface agree well with the analytic solution existing in the literature. The method is then applied to the numerical simulation of the pyrolysis and ignition of a composite material with a polymer as the matrix and fibreglass as the filling material. Three models of oxygen distribution in the molten layer are considered to explore the melting and oxygen effects on the polymer pyrolysis. Numerical calculation shows that high oxygen concentrations in the molten layer enhance the pyrolysis reaction, resulting in a larger amount of pyrolysate, but in lower surface temperatures of the sample. It also shows that the distribution of oxygen in the molten layer has a strong effect on the pyrolysate rate, and therefore on ignition and combustion of the polymers. Comparison with available experimental data indicates that a model of oxygen distribution in the molten layer that is limited to a thin layer near the surface best describes the ignition process for a homogeneously blended polypropylene/fibreglass composite.     

傅里叶红外光谱法研究GAP/AP混合体系的快速热裂解

用T-Jump/FTIR在线联用分析技术,研究了GAP/AP混合体系在模拟燃烧条件下快速加热高温高压的热裂解。结果表明,GAP/AP混合体系的主要热裂解气相产物的组成发生了变化,说明组分之间存在相互作用。压力对GAP/AP混合体系气相产物有明显的影响,表明混合体系组分GAP和AP之间的相互作用是通过AP分解气相产物进行的,混合体系不但存在气相之间的反应,也存在气相/凝聚相反应。而温度并没有影响AP对GAP的作用。用T-Jump/FTIR在线分析技术能够实现模拟燃烧条件下含能材料实时气体产物分析,为从微观反应的角度探索含能材料的快速高压热裂解及其组分之间的相互作用提供一条技术途径。     

褐煤热解与燃烧时矿物转化和细灰形成的CCSEM研究

在沉降炉中进行了一种典型中国褐煤的热解与燃烧实验,热解气氛为N2,燃烧气氛为O₂/N₂=21:79,采用CCSEM分析原煤、煤焦与煤灰。CCSEM分析结果表明,铁氧化物、石英、黄铁矿、伊利石和高岭土是煤中主要的矿物成分,同时也是主要的外在矿成分,褐煤中57.26%的矿物粒径小于10μm。在热解与燃烧过程中,煤中主要矿物发生了明显转化。富Si矿物和硅铝酸盐在热解和燃烧过程中可能发生了破碎;而富Fe矿物部分明显破碎生成细小矿物,部分外在矿直接转化,未发生明显破碎。细灰少量来自于细小富硅矿、石英和铁氧化物等矿物的直接转化,70%以上的细灰由Ca、Fe含量很高的混合硅铝酸盐组成。     

Influence of the heat loss intensity on the characteristics of the filtration combustion of solid organic fuels

The effect of lateral heat loss on the characteristics of the filtration combustion of solid organic fuels is studied experimentally and theoretically. The results show that, for an reaction trailing, an increase in the heat loss intensity leads to a marked reduction in the combustion temperature and an increase in the temperature at which fuel pyrolysis is complete, with the yield of liquid pyrolysis products remaining practically unchanged. For a reaction leading, an increase in the heat transfer coefficient causes a reduction in the combustion temperature and the yield of liquid pyrolysis products.     

Biomass pyrolysis in pulverized-fuel boilers: Derivation of apparent kinetic parameters for inclusion in CFD codes

Biomass combustion in pulverized-fuel boilers is a growing way to produce electricity from a renewable source of energy. Slagging and fouling limit however the reliability of the units that were initially designed for coal combustion. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes aiming at studying those phenomena include simplified models of biomass particle pyrolysis, of which the pertinence has already been questioned for the typical conditions of interest. A comprehensive model has been developed to investigate pyrolysis of particles in pulverized-fuel boilers, with sizes ranging from 17 μm to 2.5 mm. The detailed model accounts for internal heat conduction, internal gaseous convection, moisture evaporation and particle shrinkage. It includes a competitive, multi-component kinetic scheme, improved for high temperatures. The discrepancy between the simplified models integrated in most CFD applications and the detailed simulations is highlighted. The simplified isothermal models underestimate pyrolysis time for the largest particles. Moreover, such models delay and shorten the volatiles release. The flame lengths, the local temperature fields and the pollutant emissions might be importantly impacted in global combustion simulations. Apparent kinetic parameters have been derived from the detailed simulations. Their use in existing simplified models improves the behavior of the biomass particles during pyrolysis, and offers therefore an efficient alternative to the integration of complex pyrolysis models in CFD codes.     

污泥的热解提油-半焦燃烧工艺的实验研究

本文提出了双流化床中污泥的热解提油-半焦燃烧工艺,组织实验论证并进行了探索研究。结果表明,双流化床中可以实现污泥热解提油工艺和半焦燃烧工艺的耦合,即获得了污泥热解产生的油和气,又实现了污泥的焚烧无害化处理。污泥在双流化床中发生热解反应时,干燥无灰基污泥的油产率为24.1%,是煤的2.4倍,干燥无灰基污泥的轻油产率为8.44%,是煤的9倍。该工艺中,污泥中热量的43.1%转化为油,10.4%转化为热值10.54MJ/m~3的气体燃料,46.5%的热量残留在污泥半焦中,在燃烧炉内燃烧放热。     

热重-红外联用分析塑料垃圾热动力学特性对多环芳烃生成的影响

本文采用热重-红外联用观察了由PE,PVC,PS等组成的混合塑料和单独的塑料组分的热动力学特性和热重逸出产物的分布特性。结果显示,在混合燃烧和热解时多环芳烃的排放特性和其各组份单独燃烧时的排放特性明显不同,这主要是由于混合燃烧和热解时各塑料组分因相互作用而引起热动力学性质发生了变化所致。     

标准曲线法测定煤中自由基含量

自由基在煤变质过程、煤自燃反应及煤热解和液化中发挥着重要作用,准确测量煤中自由基总量对于研究上述煤的反应机理具有一定的理论意义. 由于单点法测量煤中自由基含量的准确度及精确度不够,该文通过考察ESR测定自由基含量的稳定性和重复性,尝试建立了标准曲线方法测定煤中的自由基含量,得到了满意的结果. 稳定性实验的相对标准偏差（RSD）＜4%,重复性实验的相对准偏差（RSD）＜3%,自由基含量在本实验范围（6.12×10¹⁵~1.47×10¹⁷）内线性关系良好,相关系数＞0.99. 实验结果表明,该方法对煤中自由基含量测定有很好的精密度和准确性.     

木质装饰板材贫氧条件下燃烧和热解特性研究

本文利用热重差热分析仪,在各种不同的氧气浓度下对落叶松、红木和红松样品进行实验。通过对TG、DTG和DTA曲线的分析,样品干燥基要经历两个失重过程,第一个失重过程主要是纤维素和半纤维素的热解,第二个失重过程主要是木质素的炭化分解和燃烧。在各氧气浓度条件下,热解失重的第一个阶段TG和DTG曲线差异很小;在各样品失重的第二个阶段,随着氧气浓度的增加,TG和DTG曲线左移,反应结束的温度明显降低。氧气能使木质素的炭化物氧化并进而可能使其着火燃烧,从而使反应进程加快。当氧气浓度大于6.32%时,各样品DTA曲线上均有两个明显放热峰,并且随着氧气浓度的增加,DTA曲线放热峰越尖锐,放热峰面积越大,说明氧气浓度越大,在两阶段失重过程中更多的挥发分物质和固体炭化物参与燃烧。     

A reactive molecular dynamics study of NO removal by nitrogen-containing species in coal pyrolysis gas

Coal splitting and staging is a promising technology to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from coal combustion through transforming nitrogenous pollutants into environmentally friendly gasses such as nitrogen (N₂). During this process, the nitrogenous species in pyrolysis gas play a dominant role in NOx reduction. In this research, a series of reactive force field (ReaxFF) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are conducted to investigate the fundamental reaction mechanisms of NO removal by nitrogen-containing species (HCN and NH₃) in coal pyrolysis gas under various temperatures. The effects of temperature on the process and mechanisms of NO consumption and N₂ formation are illustrated during NO reduction with HCN and NH₃, respectively. Additionally, we compare the performance of NO reduction by HCN and NH₃ and propose control strategies for the pyrolysis and reburn processes. The study provides new insights into the mechanisms of the NO reduction with nitrogen-containing species in coal pyrolysis gas, which may help optimize the operating parameters of the splitting and staging processes to decrease NOx emissions during coal combustion.     

A functional-group-based approach to modeling real-fuel combustion chemistry – III: Application to biodiesels

Real biodiesel fuels are mixtures comprising many high molecular weight components, making it a challenge to predict their combustion chemistry with detailed kinetic models. Our group previously proposed a functional-group approach (FGMech) to model the combustion chemistry of real gasoline and jet fuels; this approach has now been extended to model real biodiesel combustion and mixtures with petroleum fuels. As in our previous work, a decoupling philosophy is adopted for construction of the model. A lumped reaction mechanism describes the (oxidative) pyrolysis of fuels, while a detailed base chemistry model represents the oxidation of key pyrolysis intermediates. However, due to the presence of the ester group, several oxygenated species are identified as additional primary products and incorporated into the lumped reaction steps. In addition to the lumped reactions initiated by unimolecular decomposition and H-atom abstraction reactions, a lumped H-atom addition-elimination reaction is also incorporated as a new reaction class to account for the presence of double bonds. Stoichiometric parameters are obtained based on a multiple linear regression (MLR) model, which establishes relationships between the fuel's functional group distributions and the stoichiometric parameters of the lumped reactions. Global rate constants are developed from consistent rate rules obtained from pure fuels. New pyrolysis experimental data for methyl pentanoate/methyl nonanoate and methyl heptanoate/n-heptane mixtures (50%/50% in mol) are obtained in a jet-stirred reactor at atmospheric pressure. In general, kinetic models developed using the FGMech approach can reasonably reproduce all the validation targets obtained in this work, as well as those in the literature, confirming that functional-group-modeling is a promising approach to simulate combustion behavior of diesel/biodiesel surrogate fuels and real biodiesels.     

Synthesis of Cu–Ni Alloy Powder Directly from Metal Salts Solution

Cu–Ni alloy powders were synthesized directly from metal nitrate solution. Combustion, ultrasonic mist combustion and ultrasonic pyrolysis processes were applied and Cu–Ni alloy powder was successfully synthesized by mist combustion and ultrasonic pyrolysis of nitrate salts in a reducing atmosphere. X-ray diffraction data showed that the copper and the nickel atoms were completely mixed. For Cu–Ni alloy powder prepared by ultrasonic mist combustion, powder was a hollow sphere and consisted of nano-sized particles. For Cu–Ni alloy powder prepared by ultrasonic pyrolysis, particles consisted of nano-scale particles loosely coagulated. The synthesis temperature was 800°C, which is much lower than the liquidus of a Cu–Ni binary system. Metal alloying by mist pyrolysis, named chemical alloying, has many advantages: (1) no crucible, ball or jar is needed, (2) low synthesis temperature below the liquidus of the alloy system, (3) no extraction step is needed, (4) no cation contamination, (5) direct synthesis of fine powder from metal salts and (6) a simple and inexpensive process. The disadvantage is the contamination of organic elements from the solvent and the salt.     

On the rank-dependence of coal tar secondary reactions

The secondary reactions of volatile compounds, including coal tar and light gases, accounts for a great portion of soot formation and the subsequent heat release and pollutant emissions in the combustion zone. While coal primary pyrolysis has been extensively studied over the last few decades and several network pyrolysis models has been developed to describe this process, coal secondary pyrolysis is still not well understood. The Babcock and Wilcox Company has been investigating coal secondary pyrolysis in order to develop a comprehensive mechanism for inclusion in predictive computational fluid dynamics and coal combustion models. Supportive experiments were carried out in an entrained-flow reactor. Tar was extracted from the pyrolysis byproducts of seven coals of widely-distributed rank at temperatures ranging from 923 to 1473 K, and analyzed by ¹³C NMR. Tars formed from higher rank coals generally demonstrated higher sooting propensities. This rank-dependent sooting propensity is associated with tar’s chemical structure properties. With increased heat treatment severity, tar molecules lose a substantial amount of aliphatic attachments, and the average size of substitution per cluster decreases. Compared to tars formed from high-rank bituminous coals, those formed from low-rank sub-bituminous coals have a larger attachment portion, higher averaged substitution, and higher oxygen-containing functional groups. These differences contribute to the higher cracking propensity observed for low-rank coal tars.     

乙醇煤油混合燃料热解特性实验研究

本文实验研究了乙醇、煤油及其混合物的热解特性.利用气相色谱测量了其中氢气、甲烷、乙烯和一氧化碳的浓度.实验结果表明,燃料的热解率随温度的增加而增加.热解形成的气体中,乙醇热解得到的氢气浓度高于煤油,而甲烷和乙烯的浓度低于煤油.掺混乙醇后的煤油混合燃料热解时形成的氢气浓度随乙醇含量的增加而增加,对于在超燃冲压发动机中采用在煤油中添加一定量的含氧燃料(如乙醇、甲醇等)来解决着火和稳定燃烧问题具有很好的潜在优势.     

Insight into the calcium carboxylate release behavior during Zhundong coal pyrolysis and combustion

In this paper, the dynamic behavior of calcium carboxylate release during Zhundong coal pyrolysis and combustion is studied via reactive molecular dynamics (ReaxFF MD) simulation. The molecular structure model of Zhundong coal is constructed based on the combination of the classic Hatcher coal model and experimental characterizations. Pyrolysis simulations on the coal model are performed at different temperatures ranging from 2000 K to 2800 K. The pyrolysis experiments are also carried out to validate the ReaxFF simulation. The results show that most of the calcium are released into the volatiles by the thermal decomposition of CM-Ca (coal/char matrix with calcium bonded) after releasing CO₂. The distributions of the calcium bonded to gas, tar and inorganics as well as the atomic calcium in the volatiles are quantitatively classified. The thermal cracking of tar fragments are significant at high temperatures leading to the conversion of calcium from tar into the organic gas. Furthermore, the nascent char model is constructed to study the release behavior of calcium in char combustion stage. The calcium is initially released in the form of oxidized calcium and atomic calcium. With increasing temperature, the oxidized calcium trends to convert to the organically bonded calcium. By using the Arrhenius expression, the kinetic parameters for the release of calcium into various species during pyrolysis and char combustion stages are quantitatively determined.     

Combustion chemistry probed by synchrotron VUV photoionization mass spectrometry

Combustion is directly related to energy conversion and the environment. Gas-phase chemical reactions such as thermal decomposition, oxidation and recombination play a critical role in combustion processes. Here we review six applications of synchrotron vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization mass spectrometry (PIMS) in fundamental studies of combustion chemistry. These applications range from the use of flow reactors to probe elementary reaction kinetics, studies of pyrolysis in plug-flow reactors and oxidation in jet-stirred reactors, studies of spatial evolution of species concentrations in premixed and non-premixed flames, product distributions in pyrolysis of biomass, and analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) formation. These experiments provide valuable data for the development and validation of detailed chemical kinetic models. Furthermore, some additional potential applications are proposed.     

Effects of fuel cetane number on the structure of diesel spray combustion: An accelerated Eulerian stochastic fields method

An Eulerian stochastic fields (ESF) method accelerated with the chemistry coordinate mapping (CCM) approach for modelling spray combustion is formulated, and applied to model diesel combustion in a constant volume vessel. In ESF-CCM, the thermodynamic states of the discretised stochastic fields are mapped into a low-dimensional phase space. Integration of the chemical stiff ODEs is performed in the phase space and the results are mapped back to the physical domain. After validating the ESF-CCM, the method is used to investigate the effects of fuel cetane number on the structure of diesel spray combustion. It is shown that, depending of the fuel cetane number, liftoff length is varied, which can lead to a change in combustion mode from classical diesel spray combustion to fuel-lean premixed burned combustion. Spray combustion with a shorter liftoff length exhibits the characteristics of the classical conceptual diesel combustion model proposed by Dec in 1997 (http://dx.doi.org/10.4271/970873), whereas in a case with a lower cetane number the liftoff length is much larger and the spray combustion probably occurs in a fuel-lean-premixed mode of combustion. Nevertheless, the transport budget at the liftoff location shows that stabilisation at all cetane numbers is governed primarily by the auto-ignition process.