Catalytic and non-catalytic synergistic effects and their individual contributions to improved combustion performance of coal/biomass blends

Oladejo, Jumoke M.; Adegbite, Stephen; Liu, Hao; Wu, Tao

Abstract

This study focuses on the synergistic properties of three types of coal when co-fired with oat straw at different blending ratios. The results demonstrated non-additive interaction between oat straw and coal samples. The catalytic effect of oat straw ash and the non-catalytic effect of its organic constituents on these coal samples were isolated and analysed to measure their contribution to the confirmed synergistic effects during co-firing. The results showed a level of synergy suppression between catalytic and non-catalytic effects due to the overlapping function of the catalytic AAEMs and the radical propagation promoted by organic content of biomass. A novel index, i.e., synergy combination efficiency, was therefore proposed and used to quantify the level of synergistic promotion or synergistic inhibition occurring during the co-firing of these fuel blends. It was found that at a blending ratio of 30 wt% oat straw, the Guizhou coal achieved a synergy factor (S.F) of 1.50, with non-catalytic and catalytic synergy contributing 69.1% and 30.9% respectively. This coal blend showed the highest synergistic promotion with a combined efficiency of 194%, which demonstrated the potential of the use of co-firing synergy to improve combustion performance of poor quality coals.

Citation

Oladejo, J. M., Adegbite, S., Liu, H., & Wu, T. (2018). Catalytic and non-catalytic synergistic effects and their individual contributions to improved combustion performance of coal/biomass blends. Applied Energy, 211, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.11.052

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 8, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Dec 18, 2017
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Nov 23, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 19, 2018
• Journal: Applied Energy
• Print ISSN: 0306-2619
• Electronic ISSN: 0306-2619
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 211
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.11.052
• Keywords: Co-firing, Catalytic synergy, Non-catalytic synergy, Synergy index, Synergy efficiency
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/909337
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261917316379
• Contract Date: Nov 23, 2017