Study on the combustion characteristics and kinetics of water hyacinth co-combustion with anthracite

Abstract

Water hyacinth(WH) is a promising resource produced as a by-product of treating pollution in watersheds, but little study has been done on its high-value applications. In this work, the combustion characteristics of WH, anthracite (AN), and their blends under different ratios, and heating rates were investigated by the thermogravimetric (TG) analyzer. The Kissen-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) and Flynn-WallOzawa (FWO) methods are used to calculate the dynamics, and the interaction between the mixed materials is discussed. The results show that the combustion characteristics of WH are better than those of AN because of its higher volatile components. With the increase of WH, the comprehensive combustion index increased from 0.15(pure AN) to 2.22(WH: AN=5:5). With the increase in heating rate, there is no significant difference in residual. The difference in thermogravimetric curves of mixed fuel in the volatile combustion stage and fixed carbon combustion stage shows that there is an interaction between WH and AN in the process of co-combustion, indicating that the mixed fuel is suitable for co-combustion. This study provides a theoretical basis for improving the efficiency of clean energy and reducing the consumption of fossil energy.