Thermogravimetric analysis of anthracite and waste plastics by iso-conversional method

•Co-combustion kinetic analysis of solid fuels was made by iso-conversional method.•Thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of combustion for blends were determined.•WP can improve the combustion characteristic of high ash anthracite.•Reasonable utilization the energy of WP is important for industrial production.

Combustion mechanisms and kinetics of plastics-coal blends with 0, 10, 20, 40 and 100% waste plastics (WP) are studied separately by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) from ambient temperature to 900 °C in air atmosphere. These blends are combusted at different heating rates. The results indicate that, with the increase of waste plastics content, the combustion processes of blends could be divided into one stage, two stages, three stages and one stage. Meanwhile, the ignition and final temperatures of them both decrease. The maximum weight loss rate of WP is much higher than that of other samples. The iso-conversional method is used for the kinetic analysis of the non-isothermal thermogravimetric data and results indicate that, when the waste plastics content varied from 0% to 40%, the values of activation energy increase from 113.3 kJ mol−1 to 156.0 kJ mol−1, and the value of activation energy for pure WP is 278.8 kJ mol−1.