You are here:
COMPARISON OF PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS AND ELEMENTAL PARTITIONING FROM THE COMBUSTION OF PULVERIZED COAL AND RESIDUAL FUEL OIL
Citation:
Linak*, W P., C A. Miller*, AND J. L. Wendt. COMPARISON OF PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS AND ELEMENTAL PARTITIONING FROM THE COMBUSTION OF PULVERIZED COAL AND RESIDUAL FUEL OIL. JOURNAL OF THE AIR AND WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION. Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburgh, PA, 50(7):1532-1544, (2000).
Description:
The paper gives results of experimental efforts in which three coals and a residual fuel oil were combusted in three different systems simulating process and utility boilers. Particloe size distributions (PSDs) were determined using atmospheric and low-pressure impaction, electrical mobility, time-of-flight, and light scattering techniques. Size classified particulate matter (PM) samples from this study are also being utilized by colleagues for animal instillation experiments. Experimental results on the mass and compositions of particles between 0.03 and >20 micrometers in aerodynamic diameter show that PM from the combustion of these fuels produces distinctive bi- and trimodal PSDs, with a fine mode dominated by vaporization, nucleation, and growth processes. Depending on the fuel and combustion equipment, the coarse mode is composed primarily of unburned carbon char and associated inherent trace elements (fuel oil) and fragments of inorganic (largely calcium-alumino-silicate) fly ash including trace elements (coal). The three coals also produced a central mode between 0.8 and 2.0 micrometers in aerodynamic diameter. However, the origins of these particles are unclear because vapor-to-particle growth processes are unlikely to produce particles this large. One possible mechanism may involve the liberation of micron-scale mineral inclusions.