Experimental evaluation of the effect of sulfur content on the spontaneous combustion characteristics parameters of coal

The coal spontaneous combustion (CSC) is the main hazard threatening the coal safety production. In this work, the CSC characteristic, CSC tendency and limit parameters with different sulfur were measured and discussed using temperature-programmed experiment. The results show that the cross-point temperature (CPT) decreases first and then increases with the increasing sulfur content. The CSC tendency of coal with sulfur content in the range of 3.28-5.13 % is greater than that with sulfur content of 2.57 % and 7.59 %. When sulfur content is less than 5.13 %, sulfur and its unstable compounds in coal have strong reactivity and can promote oxidation reaction. When sulfur content is greater than 5.13 %, a large number of sulfur-containing substances reduce the contact area of coal oxygen molecules, which inhibits the oxidation reaction of coal. The sulfur content of coal sample has a significant effect on the limit parameters of coal spontaneous combustion.