Temperatures of coal particle during devolatilization in fluidized bed combustion reactor

The purpose of this study was to investigate the thermal behavior of coal during devolatilization in fluidized bed. Temperatures in the center of single coal particle were measured by thermocouple. Two coals were tested (brown coal Bogovina and lignite Kosovo), using dry coal particle, shaped into spherical form of diameters 7 and 10 mm, in temperature range from 300 to 850°C. Unsteady behavior of coal particle during heating and devolatilization in fluidized bed was described by a model that takes into account heat transfer between bed and particle surface, heat transfer through particle and an endothermic chemical reaction of first-order. Based on the mathematical model analysis and compared with experimental results, values of heat conductivity (λ _c ) and heat capacity (C _p ) of coal were determined. The best agreement was obtained for constant thermal properties, for brown coal λ _c = 0.20 W/mK and C _p = 1200 J/kgK and for lignite λ _c = 0.17 W/mK and C _p = 1100 J/kgK.