Evaluating the Combustion Reactivity of Drop Tube Furnace and Thermogravimetric Analysis Coal Chars with a Selection of Metal Additives

Opportunities exist for effective coal combustion additives that can reduce the carbon content of pulverized fuel ash (PFA) to below 6%, thereby making it saleable for filler/building material applications without the need for postcombustion treatment. However, with only limited combustion data currently available for the multitude of potential additives, catalytic performance under pulverized fuel (PF) boiler conditions has received relatively little attention. For the first time, this paper therefore compares the reactivity of catalyzed bituminous coal chars from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) with those generated by devolatilization in a drop tube furnace (DTF). The principal aim was to explore the fundamental chemistry behind the chosen additives' relative reactivities. Accordingly, all eight of the investigated additives increased the TGA burnout rate of the TGA and DTF chars, with most of the catalysts demonstrating consistent reactivity levels across chars from both devolatilization methods. Copper(I) chloride, silver chloride, and copper nitrate were thus identified as the most successful additives tested, but it proved difficult to establish a definitive reactivity ranking. This was largely due to the use of physical mixtures for catalyst dispersion, the relatively narrow selection of additives examined, and the inherent variability of the DTF chars. Nevertheless, one crucial exception to normal additive behavior was discovered, with copper(I) chloride perceptibly deactivating during devolatilization in the DTF, even though it remained the most effective catalyst tested. As a prolonged burnout at over 1000 degrees C was required to replicate this deactivation effect on the TGA, the phenomenon could not be detected by typical testing procedures. Subsequently, a comprehensive TGA study showed no obvious relationship between the catalyst-induced reductions in the reaction's apparent activation energy and the samples' recorded burnout rates. Although copper(I) chloride did generate a diffusion controlled reaction regime at a lower temperature than the other additives. Furthermore, only the thermally labile iron(III) chloride appeared capable of exerting a catalytic effect under mass transfer controlled combustion regimes, signifying that the physical state of the catalyst could be an important factor during PF combustion.