Fragmentation of pulverized coal in a laminar drop tube reactor: Experiments and model

Fragmentation during pulverized coal particles conversion shifts the particle size distribution of the fuel towards smaller particle sizes, affecting both conversion rates and heat release. After pyrolysis of a high volatiles Colombian coal in CO2 atmosphere in a drop tube reactor at 1573 K, solid carbonaceous particles of different size, from 100 µm of the particle feed down to the nanometric size, have been observed. A fragmentation model has been used to predict the fate of Colombian coal particles under the experimental conditions of the drop tube experiment and predict the particle size distribution (PSD). Model and experimental results are in very good agreement and indicate that in the DTR experiment the coal underwent almost complete pyrolysis and that fragmentation generated a 36 wt% population of particles with size close to 30 µm. The close match between the PSDs obtained from experiments and from the fragmentation model is an important novelty. It demonstrates that fragmentation occurs not only under fluidized bed conditions but also under the conditions of pulverized coal combustion. Experimentalists are warned against the fact that the fine particulate sampled at the outlet of laminar flow reactors and boilers is not always composed of soot only. Char fragments can be misidentified as soot. The implementation of fragmentation submodels in pulverized fuel combustion and gasification codes is highly recommended.