Chapter 4 - Pyrolysis of Victorian Brown Coal

Abstract

When a coal particle is heated up, the initial intra-particle thermochemical reactions that result in the formation of volatiles and char are in general summarized as the primary pyrolysis. The thermochemical reactions during pyrolysis include both bond-breaking and bond-forming reactions, resulting in the formation of volatile products and non-volatile solid residue termed char. Pyrolysis or the thermal decomposition of coal can be considered as the initial steps of all thermochemical utilization processes of coal, such as combustion, gasification, carbonization, and liquefaction. Therefore, understanding the thermal decomposition behavior of the Victorian brown coal is central to all thermochemical utilization processes of the brown coal. Due to its importance, efforts have been made to understand the pyrolysis behavior of the Victorian brown coal under a wide range of conditions using a variety of experimental techniques. Since early studies on the pyrolysis of the Victorian brown coal in 1991, there have been undoubtedly significant progresses in this area. These progresses, from both experimental and modeling studies, are the focus of this chapter.