The effect of wet-grinding on coal mechanochemical pre-desulfurization

ABSTRACT

For reducing SOx emissions during industrial activities, a new desulfurization method is urgently needed to be exploited. Thus, a mechanochemical pre-desulfurization method was explored. For characterizing the change patterns of coal before and after grinding, N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was utilized. The maximum% of desulfurization rate reached 24.69% under optimum conditions of wet-grinding, a 10% grinding concentration, and a period of grinding 90 min, at pH = 7. However, the desulfurization rate was almost zero by dry-grinding. The specific surface area of coal samples and its contents of FeSO₄, and Fe₂(SO₄)₃ changed from 3.570 m²·g⁻¹, 0.159%, and 0.593% of raw coal to 4.879 m²·g⁻¹, 0.611%, and 0.939% of the dry-grinding sample and 13.866 m²·g⁻¹, 0.939%, and 2.23% of the wet-grinding sample. The transformation from pyrite to soluble FeSO₄ and Fe₂(SO₄)₃ is the main reason for high-sulfur coal desulfurization during the process of wet-grinding. Therefore, this investigation puts forward a new and friendly desulfurization method for coal desulfurization.

KEYWORDS:

• High-sulfur coal
• coal-pyrite
• mechanochemical desulfurization
• dry-grinding
• wet-grinding

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51474211) and Anhui Provincial Department of Education (KJ2021A0971).

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2023.2198985

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Anhui Provincial Department of Education [KJ2021A0971]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [51474211]

Notes on contributors

Jinting Liu

Jinting Liu, Ph.D., [email protected], School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing).

Jing Zhao

Jing Zhao, Ph.D., [email protected], School of Chemical &Material Engineering, Huainan Normal University

Suqian Gu

Suqian Gu, Ph.D., Corresponding author, [email protected], School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing).

Xiaoheng Fu

Xiaoheng Fu, professor, [email protected], School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing).