Evolution of nitrogen compounds during coal devolatilization

What is it about?

In this work, simultaneous thermogravimetric-mass spectrometric (TG-MS) analysis was used to study the release of various nitrogen compounds during pyrolysis of different-rank coals. The influence of coal rank on the evolution of volatile compounds was also considered. In addition, a series of coal chars with different burn-off degrees were obtained in a bench-scale fluidized bed reactor, using the same parent coal. The evolution of gaseous compounds arising from the thermal treatment of the partially burned chars was studied in the TG-MS system. Moreover, devolatilization tests were conducted in a bench-scale fluidized bed reactor. During these tests, special attention was given to the formation of N2O.

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Why is it important?

In this paper, we show that coal rank has an important influence on the nitrogen compounds released during pyrolysis and, therefore, on NO formation during combustión. According to the pyrolysis tests performed in the fluidized bed reactor, it seems that coal rank and temperature are the most important factors that affect the amount of N20 produced; however, they do not have any effect on the formation mechanism.

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