Lack of synergetic effects in the pyrolytic characteristics of woody biomass/coal blends under low and high heating rate regimes

Abstract

Pyrolytic behaviours of woody biomass/coal mixtures were investigated under both low and high heating rate conditions over a range of temperatures between 200°C and 1400°C. Results obtained from this comprehensive investigation indicated that the pyrolytic characteristics of the mixtures follow those of the parent materials in an additive manner. Therefore, under inert (non-oxidising) conditions the two fuels undergo independent thermal conversion without any chemical interactions. As such, the yield of the major pyrolysis products (e.g. volatiles and char) is proportional to the percentage of woody biomass and coal in the mixture. This confirms the hypothesis made by a number of researchers about the lack of synergistic effects in the yield of pyrolysis products from blended coal and woody biomass. However, in this study, we show that even the compositions of the gaseous products from blended samples are linearly proportional to those of their parent fuels (lack of synergistic effects). These findings can potentially help to understand and predict the behaviour of woody biomass/coal blends in practical combustion systems.