Timothy Roth

Publication Date

12-1992

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Wei-Ping Pan

Comments

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Degree Program

Department of Chemistry

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

The objective of this study was to find suitable fuel blends consisting of coal fines, paper and limestone to produce fuel pellets for fluidized bed combustion systems. Coupled thermogravimetry/fourier transform infrared (TG/FTIR) were employed to analyze fuel blends to gain key information on degradation characteristics under the conditions of oxidative pyrolysis. From TG analysis it was shown that blends containing 5% or less limestone decomposed at earlier temperatures when compared to fuel blends containing 7% limestone or raw coal. Semi-quantitative analysis of volatile matter was carried out using FTIR spectroscopy. Release profiles for evolved gases were established for individual constituents, along with the various blends of constituents investigated. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) was employed to correlate enthalpy changes with decomposition temperatures determined from TG analysis. DTA also provides "fingerprinting" of enthalpy changes for fuel blends compared to reference curves, or raw coal.

Disciplines

Chemistry | Physical Sciences and Mathematics

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