EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF PEAT FUEL

A study has been made of thermophysical properties of peat pellets of higher-than-average reactivity due to the
pretreatment of the raw material. A synchronous differential analysis of the produced pellets was performed to
determine the gaseous products of their decomposition by the mass-spectroscopy method. The parameters of the
mass loss rate, the heat-release function, the activation energy, the rate constant of the combustion reaction, and the
volatile yield were compared to the properties of pellets compressed by the traditional method on a matrix pelletizer.
It has been determined that as a result of the peat pretreatment, the yield of volatile components increases and the
activation energy of the combustion reaction decreases by 17 and 30% respectively compared with the raw fuel. This
determines its prospects for burning in an atomized state at coal-fi red thermal electric power plants.
   
Author:  A. S. Mikhailov, Sh. A. Piralishvili, E. G. Stepanov, and N. S. Spesivtseva
Keywords:  peat, pellets, reactive properties, volatile yield, thermal analysis, humic acids
Page:  491