Coal pyrolysis and char combustion under oxy-fuel conditions

Carbon dioxide emissions will continue to be a major environmental concern due to the fact that coal will remain a major fossil-fuel energy resource during the next few decades. Various CO2 capture and storage strategies have been considered for coal-fired power-generation plants to mitigate CO2 emissions. These technologies include pre-combustion or fuel decarbonisation, post-combustion, and oxy-fuel technology. In oxy-fuel combustion, fuel is combusted in oxygen rather than air and the oxygen stream is usually diluted by recycled flue gas to control the flame temperature and ensure a proper heat transfer without major changes in the layout of the boiler. In this thesis, oxy-fuel combustion technology is investigated to evaluate the effect of the O2/CO2 environment on coal combustion.