Devolatilization and combustion of large coal particles in a fluidized bed

Abstract

Abstract Devolatilization and combustion of large particles of Eastern Canadian coals (Evans and Minto), 5‐50 mm dia., were studied in a bench‐scale atmospheric fluidized bed reactor at 1023‐1173 K with 0.5 mm sand particles as the bed material. The devolatilization time, mass loss history, changes in proximate volatiles content and C/H mass ratio, and temperature history at the centre of the particle during devolatilization were determined. The mass loss during devolatilization is correlated with the proximate volatiles content of the parent coal. The devolatilization time is correlated with the initial particle diameter by a power‐law relation with an exponent of 1.54‐1.64. The results show insignificant effect of superficial velocity on devolatilization.