Self-reaction of initial active groups in coal

For further understanding of self-heating of coal, we tested the reactions of seven different ranks of coal under inert atmosphere. In the test, 50-gram of coal sample ranged from 0.18 mm to 0.38 mm was put into a special designed copper reaction vessel and let pure nitrogen to flow into the coal sample from the bottom at a rate of 100 mL/min. The programmed temperature enclosure was run at a programmed rate of 0.8 °C/min. The concentration of the carbon oxides and the coal temperature were tested. The results show that the coal reactions under inert atmosphere can generate CO and CO2. The reactions under inert atmosphere are affected by coal ranks, initial pore structure of coal and sulfur content. For low ranks of coal, the productions of carbon oxides are piecewise. The coal temperature is lower than the surrounding temperature throughout the reactions under inert atmosphere, but it rises quickly and reaches a crossing point temperature in the later stage under dry-air atmosphere. Based on the analysis, it indicates the self-reaction of initial active groups exists in the self-heating of coal besides the reactions in the two parallel reactions model. Spontaneous combustion of coal is due to both the oxidation heat accumulation and the chain reaction. A new reaction model of self-heating of coal was proposed.