Influence of added potassium and sodium carbonates on CO2 reactivity of the char from a demineralized inertinite rich bituminous coal

► The paper describes the influence of potassium and sodium carbonates on the CO2 (gasification processes) reactivity of an inertinite rich South African coal. ► Addition of K2CO3, Na2CO3 and their mixture showed an increase in the CO2 reactivity of the char prepared from the demineralized coal at 900 °C in nitrogen. ► Addition of the catalysts to the coal before preparing the char resulted in better CO2 conversion than addition of the catalysts to the prepared char.