Structural and pyrolysis behaviors analysis of coal pretreated with a weak acid

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mineral matters are essential components of coal and significantly affect its thermal conversion process. To investigate the effects of the minerals on the structures and pyrolysis behaviors, three middle/low-rank Xinjiang coals were mildly pretreated with a weak organic acid with low concentration. We evaluated the physicochemical properties and mineral matters of raw and acid-pretreated coals and analyzed their pyrolysis behaviors. The results indicated that the chemical structure of coals changed slightly; their physical pore structure enlarged; the content of metal cations decreased obviously. The minerals are adverse to conducting the depolymerization and decomposition reaction at the temperature lower than 300 °C. With the temperature increasing, the minerals exhibit excellent catalytic performance and reduce the release of gaseous products (H2O, CO2, H2, C1~C3) mainly from the polycondensation and secondary reaction. The coal rank and the content of coal ash could affect the catalytic performance.