Coal pyrolysis in a fluidized bed reactor simulating the process conditions of coal topping in CFB boiler

Simulating the conditions of pyrolytic topping in a fluidized bed reactor integrated into a CFB boiler, the study was devoted to the reaction fundamentals of coal pyrolysis in terms of the production characteristics of pyrolysis oil in fluidized bed reactors, including pyrolysis oil yield, required reaction time and the chemical species presented in the pyrolysis oil. The results demonstrated that the maximal pyrolysis oil yield occurred on conditions of 873K, with a reaction time of 3 min and in a reaction atmosphere gas simulating the composition of pyrolysis gas. Adding H(2) and CO(2) into the reaction atmosphere decreased the pyrolysis oil yield, while the oil yield increased with increasing the CO and CH(4) contents in the atmosphere. TG-FTIR analysis was conducted to reveal the effects of reaction atmosphere on the chemical species present in the pyrolysis oil. The results clarified that the pyrolysis oil yield reached its maximum when the simulated pyrolysis gas was the reaction atmosphere, but there were slightly fewer volatile matters in the pyrolysis oil than the oil generated in the N(2) atmosphere. All of these results are expected not only to reveal the composition characteristics of the pyrolysis oil from different conditions of the coal topping process but also to optimize the pyrolysis conditions in terms of maximizing the light pyrolysis oil yield and quality. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.