Download or read book Investigation of Mechanisms of Ash Deposit Formation from Low-rank Coal Combustion written by and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This project was undertaken to determine the chemical behavior of alkali metal and other species implicated in the ash fouling which can occur during the combustion of low rank coals. The coal combustion was studied in unaugmented premixed pulverized coal flames. Vapor species were measured by molecular beam mass spectrometry. Temperatures were also measured, and time-resolved coal/ash particulate samples were collected and analyzed. A major part of the research on this project was devoted to: (1) the development and refinement of techniques for the MBMS analysis of trace quantities of unstable and reactive high temperature vapor species from the pulverized coal flames; and (2) the time-resolved sampling and collection of particulates. The equipment is now operating very satisfactorily. Inorganic species, some of which were present at parts-per-million levels, were quantitatively sampled and measured in the pulverized coal flames. Time-resolved particulate samples which were free of vapor deposited contaminants were collected without the use of an interfering substrate. Profiles of the alkali metal species in Beulah lignite and Decker subbituminous coal flames were obtained. It was found in both flames that sodium is volatilized as the atomic species early (milliseconds) in the combustion process. The gaseous Na reacts, also in milliseconds, to form an unknown species which is probably an oxide fume, but which is not NaOH or Na2SO4. This is probably the mechanism for the formation of the alkali ''fumes'' observed in other systems. Measurements were also made of a number of other gaseous species, and time-resolved coal/ash samples were obtained and analyzed. 27 refs., 23 figs., 8 tabs.