The influence of potassium on the boudouard reaction in manganese production

The reactivity of selected, industrially applicable, carbonaceous materials towards CO, has been investigated. Metallurgical cokes from various locations, single source cokes, and eucalyptus charcoal have been tested for reactivity in a thermo-gravimetric furnace. A graphite sample was added to the experimental plan as a reference. The effect of potassium on the CO2 gasification rate for selected metallurgical cokes and single source cokes was studied after gaseous impregnation of the samples using potassium carbonate as a precursor. The deposited compound was then examined for chemical composition using EPMD technique. Results from the reactivity measurements using non-impregnated samples were compared with properties of the carbons and the best correlation is illuminated. Also, activation energy of the cokes is presented and compared with the activation energy of the potassium impregnated samples. The results showed that charcoal has the highest CO, reactivity, while graphite has the lowest reaction rate. The reactivity of different metallurgical cokes is similar and moderate, while cokes produced from single source coals exhibit strong variation in reactivity. Of the examined carbon properties, the alkali index showed the strongest influence on the reaction rate. Studies on catalytic gasification showed that the reactivity of the laboratory impregnated samples is higher and that the increase is related to the initial reactivity of the original material. Following this it can be stated that potassium affects all the carbons used in this work equally.