Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
A. DEMIRBAS1
1
Sila Science, Trabzon, Turkey
Abstract In this study, the higher heating values (HHVs) of 26 lignite samples
were calculated by using the proximate and elemental analyses data. The proximate
analysis results such as volatile materials (VM), fixed carbon (FC) and HHV and the
elemental analysis results such as carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen
(N) and sulfur (S) were determined for 26 lignite samples from different areas of
Turkey. The lignite samples have been tested with particle size of 0–0.05 mm. The
HHVs of 26 lignite samples obtained from different Turkish sources were determined
experimentally and calculated from both ultimate and proximate analyses. HHVs of 26
the lignite samples can be calculated from the Equation based modeling. The HHVs
(MJ/kg) of the lignite samples as a function of fixed carbon (FC, wt%) or volatile
materials (VM, %) was calculated from the following equations:
where the correlation coefficients for Eqs. (1) and (2) were 0.9907 and 0.9862,
respectively. The combustion heats calculated from Eqs. (1) and (2) showed mean
differences of C3.9% and C0.3%, respectively. The HHVs (MJ/kg) of the lignite
samples as a function of C, H, O, N, and S were calculated from the following
equation:
where the correlation coefficients for Eq. (3) was 0.9891. HHVs calculated from
Eq. (3) showed a mean deviation of C0.1.
Introduction
The heating values of coals can be determined experimentally or can be calculated from
the ultimate or proximate analyses. Various formulae for calculating heating values of
coals from their proximate analyses have been proposed by different authors (Selvig and
Gibson, 1945; Elliott and Yohe, 1981; Kucukbayrak et al., 1991; Channiwala and Parikh,
2002):
1876
Heating Value of Lignite Based on Proximate Analysis 1877
The most important fuel properties of coals are ultimate and proximate analyses,
analyses of conversion products, overall heating value and heating values of the volatiles.
Proximate analysis gives the weight fraction of moisture, volatile matter (VM) including
liquids and tar, fixed carbon (FC), and ash. The yield of volatile materials from coals
can be increased by increasing the heating rate and the temperature of pyrolysis. The
experimental determination of combustion heats and ultimate analyses requires special
instrumentation such as calorimeter and elemental analyzer, whereas proximate analysis
data can be obtained relatively easily using common laboratory equipment.
The formula proposed by Goutal is one of the oldest and best known that is based on
proximate analysis of materials (Demirbas, 1997). The most common methods currently
being practiced to evaluate the heating value of lignite are derived from the mathematical
equations by Dulong and Goutal. The original formula-based elemental analysis was
proposed by Dulong:
where HHV is the higher heating value in kcal/kg and C, H, O, and S is carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen, and sulfur contents (wt%), respectively. Elemental composition equations based
mathematical models are the most reported with Dulong’s equation being among the first
available to calculate the calorific value of coal. Dulong’s formulae for coals define the
HHV as a function of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur contents (Demirbas, 2006):
where W is water content of the sample, HHV is higher heating value in MJ/kg, C, H, O,
and S is carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur in the coal sample (wt%), respectively. The
formula proposed by Goutal is one of the oldest for calculating the higher heating value
that is based on proximate analysis of material (Demirbas, 1997; Khan and Abu-Ghararah,
1991):
where HHV is the higher heating value in Btu/lb, FC is fixed carbon (wt%), VM is
volatile material (wt%), and K is a constant that varies with the value of VM.
Experimental
For use in the experiments, 26 lignite samples were obtained from different areas of
Turkey (Sensogut et al., 2007). The samples were ground and sieved into a powder with
a particle size of 0–0.05 mm. The proximate and elemental analyses of the samples were
performed according to ASTM standards (ASTM, 1993).
The HHVs were measured by bomb calorimeter according to the ASTM D2015
standard method.
The proximate analysis results such as VM, FC, and HHV and the elemental analysis
results such as C, H, O, N, and S were determined for 26 lignite samples from different
areas of Turkey. The HHVs of the lignite samples were calculated from the proximate
and elemental analyses data.
1878 A. Demirbas
Table 1
Proximate analysis, moisture, ash and sulfur contents of lignite samples
Table 2
VM, FC, and HHV of lignite samples,
% of dry and ashless (daf) basis
Lignite
source VM, % FC, % HHV, MJ/kg
Figure 1 shows the plot for fixed carbon and higher heating values of lignite samples.
The correlation coefficient (r) is 0.9907. The HHVs calculated using Eq. (5) showed a
mean difference of C3.9% (Table 3).
The HHVs (MJ/kg) of the lignite samples as a function of volatile matter (VM, wt%)
can be calculated from:
Table 3
HHVs (MJ/kg) measured and calculated from proximate analysis
Equation (7) represents the correlation obtained by means of regression analysis. The
correlation coefficient (r) is 0.9891. The calorific values calculated using Eq. (7) showed
Heating Value of Lignite Based on Proximate Analysis 1881
Table 4
Elemental composition of lignite samples
from Turkish resources (wt%)
O
Source of lignite C H N S (by diff.)
a mean deviation of C0.1. The results showed that the correlation from the elemental
analysis gave the best correlation coefficient.
In earlier works (Demirbas et al., 1997), formulae were also developed for estimating
the HHVs of fuels from different lignocellulosic materials by using their chemical analysis
data:
where (C) is carbon content (wt%), (H) is hydrogen content (wt%), (O) is oxygen content
(wt%), and (N) is nitrogen content (wt%). The heat content is related to the oxidation
state of the natural fuels in which carbon atoms generally dominate and overshadow small
variations of hydrogen content. On the basis of literature values for different species
of wood, Tillman (1978) also found a linear relationship between HHV and carbon
content.
1882 A. Demirbas
Comparing Eqs. (7) and (8), the first term with C is higher in Eq. (8) than that of
Eq. (7). The coals certainly have aromatic structure. The HHVs of aromatic compounds
are lower than aliphatic compounds. The HHV decreases with the increase of aromaticity
of a coal fuel.
Conclusions
In this study, the mathematical equations have been developed to calculate the HHVs of
the lignite samples from proximate and elemental analysis (ultimate analysis) data.
The HHVs of the lignite samples can be calculated by using the FC and VM obtained
from simple chemical analyses. The results showed that the correlation from the proximate
analysis gave the best correlation coefficient. The HHVs of the lignite samples can be
calculated as a function of C, H, S, O and N.
Elemental composition-based mathematical models are the most reported, with Du-
long’s equation being among the first available to calculate the HHV of coal. However,
ultimate analysis is more expensive than bomb calorimeter method and tedious and needs
skilled workers to carry out the analysis. It is difficult to make accurately an ultimate
analysis of a fuel sample.
Applied analytical method is important when determining the accuracy and validity
of the data. The experimental determination of HHVs and combustible elements of
lignites require special instrumentation, whereas proximate analysis data can be obtained
relatively easily by using common laboratory equipments.
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