Reaction Kinetics of Carbon Particles

We have already discussed under practical stoichiometry how the air requirements can be estimated based on the fuel composition (ultimate analysis). The primary and secondary air requirements for combustion of pulverized coal or coke are best estimated by mass and heat balance at the mill. In Appendix 6A we show a calculation taken from Musto (1997) for the primary and secondary air required for coal pulverizer with 4.5 metric ton per hour (10,0(X)lb/hr) coal feed rate at initial moisture of 15 percent which is required to be ground and dried to 2 percent with a 200 HP mill. In order to estimate the actual primary and secondary air, one has to make some estimation of the evaporation rate, the amount of gas entering the coal mill, and the bleed air required so that the quantity of air that should be vented from the hood off-take can be properly estimated. It shows that for a take-off gas temperature of 315°C (600° F) and vent gas temperature of 76°C (170°F) and allowing ambient air infiltration of 10 percent at 15°C (60°F) the primary air will be about 22 percent of stoichiometric air and 21 percent of total air. The remaining air (about 79 percent) will be the secondary air. With this information we can size a burner using a burner pipe diameter based on a Craya-Curtet parameter of choice bearing in mind the conditions that ensure the desired jet recirculation patterns described in Chapter 3. 

Char Increasing ash layer and shrinking carbon core 

Since the carbon particle is porous and also char particle in a stagnant environment will leave a residual ash uninterrupted, the diffusion coefficient involves the resistance to flow of oxygen and combustion products through the ash layer and through the porous carbon itself. The rate of reaction of the carbon with oxygen at the reaction front can be expressed in terms of the oxygen partial pressure at the surface and the surface reaction rate constant as 

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