A novel power generation system based on the cascade utilization of coal: concept and preliminary experimental results

ABSTRACT

A new concept of a coal-based, multiproduct, poly-generation system is proposed for the cascade utilization of coal. The system combines coal pyrolysis and char residue combustion to supply chemical materials, and process heat and electricity. To achieve high conversion ratios of chemically active components and ensure high char combustion reactivity, a preliminary pyrolysis experiment was conducted on a drop tube furnace, and the semi-chars were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, N₂ adsorption, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The appropriate conditions for the novel poly-generation system are a pyrolysis temperature of ~1,000°C and a coal particle size of ~0.3 mm.

KEYWORDS:

• Cascade utilization of energy
• poly-generation system
• power generation system
• pyrolysis
• semi-char

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51706059) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (Grant No. 2015B02414).