Experimental and modeling study of oxy-fuel combustion of coal particles for heat and power generation

Coal combustion has attracted a lot of interest by generating combined heat and power (CHP) due to low costs and high efficiency. However, one of the most important challenges in coal combustion is the environmental issues related to the process. In this article, the influence of some critical parameters, i.e., oxygen ratio, system pressure, residence time, and coal particle size, on output temperature and greenhouse gas emissions was evaluated using a kinetic model and an experimental study. Results showed that an increase in oxygen ratio leads to a significant increase in output temperature. It is also found that the particle size plays a negligible role in the process; smaller particles favor the production of gas products and higher combustion efficiencies. Modeling data validated against experimental measurements and were found to be in a good agreement.