Effects of FGR and Changeable Combustion Parameters and Coal/Char Properties on the Formation of Ultrafine PMs during Pulverized Coal Char Combustion under Various O2/N2 and O2/CO2 Atmospheres

Aiming at the wide adoption of flue gas recirculation (FGR) in coal power plants for NOx removal and CO2 capture, and the imperfect removal of particulate matters (PMs), especially ultrafine PMs which constitute most of the particles discharged into atmosphere, consequently causing atmospheric haze and diseases, the effects of FGR and combustion parameters, and coal/char properties on PMs formation were therefore studied under different O-2/N-2 and O-2/CO2 atmospheres using a self-developed kinetic model. Modeling results showed that the inclusion vaporization rate and ratio had a dominant effect on PMs number density and size respectively. At the same level of oxygen content, smaller ultrafine PMs were generated under O-2/CO2 than those generated under O-2/N-2. Increasing oxygen content facilitated the formation of larger and fewer PMs. The PMs size in 27O(2)/73N(2) shows the biggest, followed by that in 36O(2)/64CO(2), 27O(2)/73CO(2), 21O(2)/79N(2), and 21O(2)/79CO(2) in turn. Compared to without FGR, FGR decreased the size of ultrafine PMs and increased the number, thus hindering PMs removal. With increasing FGR ratio, which had the most significant effect, the ultrafine PMs size decreased due to dilution effect. With increasing dust removal efficiency, the ultrafine PMs size decreased initially and then increased, peaking close to 100% of dust removal efficiency. The effect of recirculated particle size was negligible. Sensitivity analyses revealed that furnace gas temperature, inclusion size, and char density were the most influential factors on inclusion vaporization and PMs formation. The effects of CO/CO2 ratio, char load, coal ash content, and inclusion content were positive, while the effects of char density and ash content, inclusion size, and moisture were negative. High furnace temperature increased vaporization, but significantly decreased the PMs size. The number density of ultrafine PMs followed mass conservation. These results provide meaningful guidelines for practical applications.