Oxy-fuel combustion characteristics and kinetic parameters of lignite coal from thermo-gravimetric data

Combustion characteristics of Yi Min lignite and Zhun Dong lignite in O2/CO2 atmosphere were investigated by thermo-gravimetric analysis. The effects of the coal type and O2 concentration were studied. The results indicate that the increasing of O2 concentration can significantly improve the combustion performance especially when the O2 concentration is less than 60%. The activation energy corresponding to the YM lignite combustion in O2/N2 and O2/CO2 atmospheres was evaluated by two isoconversional methods. The calculation results showed that further research is required whether the activation energy calculation with isoconversional methods for complex reaction process can be used as a basis for judging the degree of the reaction difficulty.

► Combustion characteristics of two lignite coals were studied by thermogravimetric analysis.
► Kinetic parameters were deduced by two isoconversional methods.
► Burning performance improved with the increasing O2 concentration, especially less than 60%.
► Further research is required whether the Ea results can be used for judging reaction difficulty.