The kinetics of combustion of chars derived from sewage sludge

Abstract Experiments have been conducted to determine the combustion characteristics of sewage sludge chars in electrically heated beds of silica sand fluidised by air. The effects of the initial size of the char particles, the temperature of the bed and [O 2 ] in the fluidising gas were investigated. Also, the temperatures of burning particles were measured with embedded thermocouples. The kinetics of combustion were measured at temperatures low enough for the CO formed by initial reaction between the carbon and oxygen to burn at some distance away from the particle. Accordingly, the particle is only heated by the enthalpy of the reaction C+0.5O 2 →CO. The activation energy for the intrinsic kinetics of combustion of the char was estimated to be 130–144 kJ/mol. The former value makes allowance for the fact that the particles are at a temperature in excess of that of the bed (determined by a heat balance on a reacting particle), whilst the latter value assumes that the particles are at the same temperature of the bed. It is probable that the lower value is closer to the actual value, thought to be 135±15 kJ/mol, reflecting the catalytic nature of the ash skeleton on which the carbon is supported. It was possible to obtain good agreement between measured burnout times and those predicted using the grain model of Szekely J, Evans JW, Sohn HY. Gas–solid reactions. New York: Academic Press; 1976 , for the case where the kinetics are controlled by a combination of: (i) external mass transfer of oxygen from the particulate phase to the external surface of the burning char particle, (ii) diffusion of oxygen from the external surface into the porous matrix to the surfaces of grains, of which the solid is composed, and (iii) diffusion of oxygen into the microporous grains, where reaction occurs with the carbon. It was found that, for particles with diameters of 2 mm or larger, the initial rates of reaction, for bed temperatures in excess of 750 °C, are dominated by external mass transfer. This explains the dependence of the rate of oxidation of unit mass of char on 1/ d p , and the relatively small influence of temperature on these rates. Particles of char from sewage sludge are so reactive that it is essential to make allowance for a difference in temperature between the particle and the bed. Thus, experimental determinations on particles with d p ∼6.5 mm, suggested a difference in temperature of ∼150 K, in line with calculations using a steady-state heat balance.