title: Thermochemical and trace element behavior of coal gangue, agricultural biomass and their blends during co-combustion.
abstract: The thermal decomposition behavior of coal gangue, peanut shell, wheat straw and their blends during combustion were determined via thermogravimetric analysis. The coal gangue/agricultural biomass blends were prepared in four weight ratios and oxidized under dynamic conditions from room temperature to 1000 °C by various heating rates. Kinetic models were carried out to evaluate the thermal reactivity. The overall mass balance was performed to assess the partition behavior of coal gangue, peanut shell and their blends during combustion in a fixed bed reactor. The decomposition processes of agricultural biomass included evaporation, release of volatile matter and combustion as well as char oxidation. The thermal reactivity of coal gangue could be improved through the addition of agricultural biomass in suitable proportion and subsequent appropriate heating rate during combustion. In combination with the heating value and base/acid ratio limitations, a blending ratio of 30% agricultural biomass is conservatively selected as optimum blending.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China; State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710075, China; State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution and Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Chuncai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China; State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710075, China. Electronic address: lgj@ustc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guijian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Siwei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China; State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution and Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution and Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Paul Kwan Sing
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Lam
mesh_terms: D010367:Arachis / Q000737:chemistry; D018533:Biomass; D003031:Coal / Q000032:analysis*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007700:Kinetics; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D059205:Renewable Energy; D013818:Thermogravimetry; D014908:Triticum / Q000737:chemistry; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D003031:Coal; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014866:Waste Products
keywords: Agricultural biomass; Co-combustion; Coal gangue; Reactivity; Trace element