Effect of CaO mineral change on coal ash melting characteristics

The change of mineral composition in ash and the effect of CaO on the melting characteristics of coal ash were studied by adding different contents of CaO to coal ash. At the same time, the Factsage thermodynamics software was used to simulate the mineral changes in the synthetic ash to support and verify the experimental results. The results show that with the increase of CaO content, the melting characteristic temperature of coal ash first decreases and then rises. After adding a certain amount of CaO, the quartz with higher melting point completely disappears, and the melting point of the coal ash reaches a minimum value. And with the increase of CaO content, the appearance of wollastonite and single crystal calcium oxide mineral makes the melting point of coal ash gradually increase. It can be seen from the phase diagram calculated by Factsage that as the CaO content increases, the corresponding position of the coal ash gradually moves from the hematite region to the calcareous region. And the phenomenon of low temperature eutectic occurs when the CaO content is 35%, which is consistent with the trend of temperature change of the melting characteristics. These phenomena all indicate that the change in the melting point of coal ash is nonlinear as the content of CaO minerals increases. (C) 2019 Energy Institute. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.