1996 Volume 82 Issue 5 Pages 372-377
During heating up to agglomeration temperature (<470°C) with 5-500 K/min heating rate, thermoplastic behavior of coals with different caking properties has been studied with a quartz-made fluidized bed reactor. When coal particles are heated near agglomeration temperature, the swelling occurs to a larger extent irrespective of coal type, and consequently both particle size and bed height increase without particle adhesion. The degree of the increase becomes larger at higher heating rates. Independently of caking property, the textures of coal particles after heating show that higher heating rates lead to not only the higher degree of swelling and softening but also the larger portion of the particles with vesicles and hollow spheres. Thus, thermoplastic properties of a non-caking coal as well as a caking coal can be improved greatly by heating at 400-500 K/min prior to carbonization.
