Combustion characteristics of Daqing oil shale and oil shale semi-cokes

Thermo-gravimetric-analysis (TGA) was used to analyze the combustion characteristics of an oil shale and semi-cokes prepared from it. The effect of prior pyrolysis and TGA heating rate on the combustion process was studied. Prior pyrolysis affects the initial temperature of mass loss and the ignition temperature. The ignition temperature increases as the volatile content of the sample decreases. TG/DTG curves obtained at different heating rates show that heating rate has little effect on ignition temperature. But the peak of combustion shifts to higher temperatures as the heating rate is increased. The Coats-Redfern integration method was employed to find the combustion-reaction kinetic parameters for the burning of oil shale and oil shale semi-coke.