Co-gasification characteristic and kinetic analysis of spent mushroom compost and bituminous coal

Co-gasification of biomass and coal is increasingly considered as a promising technology for sustainable utilization of coal and large-scale use of biomass. Co-gasification characteristic and kinetic analysis are the basic and essential information for the application of this technology. In this paper, co-gasification behavior of a typical bituminous coal from western China and spent mushroom compost (SMC) was investigated through thermogravimetric analyzer. The temperature interval was from ambient temperature to 1000 °C with various heating rates (10, 20, 40 °C·min^-1) under carbon dioxide atmosphere. Kinetic parameter was solved through Distribution Activation Energy Model (DAEM). The results indicated that he maximum decomposition rates of the mixture and SMC were higher than that of coal except 25% SMC. Slightly synergistic effect during the co-gasification was found. The average values of the activation energy were 25.07 kJ·mol^-1 for bituminous coal, 204.47 kJ·mol^-1 for 25% SMC, 123.14 kJ·mol^-1 for 50% SMC, 144.05 kJ·mol^-1 for 75% SMC and 227.50 kJ·mol^-1 for SMC, respectively.