Ash characteristics during oxy-fuel fluidized bed combustion of a Victorian brown coal

•Ash behavior study from 10 kWth oxy-fluidized bed combustion of Australian coal•Particle size distribution of ashes is similar under both air and oxy-fuel combustion.•Bed ash composition is independent of reactor temperature and feed gas composition.•No bed agglomeration is observed under oxy-fuel combustion for the duration of tests.

This paper investigates, for the first time, the characteristics of ashes resulting from oxy-fuel fluidized bed combustion of a Victorian brown coal. The experimental results showed that the bed ash composition was independent of the reactor temperature and feed gas concentration in the combustion environment. No bed agglomeration was observed under oxy-fuel combustion conditions, even with the addition of steam, at 800–900 °C temperatures during the period of the tests. It is expected that agglomeration is unlikely to be a major problem during oxy-fuel fluidized bed combustion of this Victorian brown coal.

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