Thermal Behavior and Kinetics of Raw/Pyrolytic Wood and Coal Blends during Co-combustion Process

The thermal properties of raw wood (RW) biomass, corresponding pyrolytic wood (PW) biomass, and their blends with anthracite coal (AC) were evaluated under combustion conditions with a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) method. The blending ratios of the biomass with AC ranging from 0 to 100 mass% were taken into consideration to investigate the thermal behavior and kinetics of these blends during their co-combustion. For blends with different ratios of the RW to AC and 100% AC (100 AC), two distinct mass loss peaks related to the release or combustion process of the volatiles and the combustion of the char were noted. The addition of a higher ratio of RW or PW into AC can improve the combustion process of the blends. The thermal behavior of the RW/AC or PW/AC blends could not be characterized by a simple linear correlation of their pure material thermal behavior. With the RW/PW addition ratios varying from 25 mass% to 80 mass%, the apparent activation energy of the blends gradually decreased from 48. 46 to 34. 93 kJ/mol and from 82. 74 to 37. 81 kJ/mol for the RW/AC and PW/AC blends, respectively, with high correlation coefficient (R²) values ranging from 0. 9956 to 0. 9984.