Pyrolysis kinetics of the carbonization of high‐sulphur anthracite for activated carbon production.

The knowledge of pyrolysis kinetics of coal carbonization is essential for the optimization of reactor design and operation for activated carbon production. In the current work, non‐isothermal thermodynamics is used to study the pyrolysis process in the preparation of activated carbon from the high‐sulphur anthracite. It is seen that the co‐pyrolysis of multi‐component coal mixtures can significantly decrease the initial reaction Ea. With a heating rate of 5–20 K/min, the Ea is found to be 18–314 KJ/mol by the distributed activation energy model (DEAM). The similar Ea values of 18–314 KJ/mol and 25–344 KJ/mol are obtained by the integral isoconversional methods of Flynn‐Wall‐Ozawa (FWO) and Kissinger‐Akahira‐Sunose (KAS), respectively. With the increase of pyrolysis degree, the required activation energy increases accordingly. Based on the KAS model, the pyrolysis kinetic equations of high‐sulphur anthracite and its blended coal were derived using the master curve method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]