Non-isothermal thermogravimetric investigation on mutual effect between bituminite and anthracite in blends for blast furnace injection

In order to clarify the mutual effect between bituminite and anthracite in blends during industrial combustion, the influence of particle size and heating rate as well as oxygen concentration in atmosphere was analyzed. The results of non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the combustion behavior of blends was of great difference though blends were prepared with the same volatile content of 20%. The catalysis of bituminite to anthracite changed with the thermal and kinetic condition of combustion reaction, and consequently, blends with different collocations were suitable for various combustion environments. Superior combustion properties of some blends were achieved at high heating rates, while others might react faster under high oxygen-enriched atmosphere. Simultaneously, the volume model and unreacted core model as well as random pore model were introduced to fit the experimental data. The kinetic calculation results showed that the combustion of blends at different heating rates all agreed better with that of random pore model in comparison with the other two models, while the apparent activation energy of samples all decreased with the increase in heating rate. The similarity of functional group structure between bituminite and anthracite is closely related to the accordance in com-bustion stage of bituminite and anthracite in blends.