Study on slurry forming performance and slurry combustion characteristics of diesel modified coal

[Display omitted] •Diesel oil improves the slurrying characteristics of LRC.•Diesel modification can improve the comprehensive combustion performance of M-LRCWS.•The combustion of LRCWS and M-LRCWS follow the third-order reaction mechanism. In this study, modified low rank coal water slurry (M-LRCWS) was prepared by using diesel modified low rank coal (LRC) and compared with low LRC water slurry (LRCWS) to investigate the slurry formation mechanism and combustion characteristics of coal water slurry. Meanwhile, the combustion kinetics of coal-water slurry was investigated using kinetic methods to probe the combustion reaction mechanism. The results showed that the slurry formation concentration of LRC was 70 %, while the slurry formation concentration of M-LRCWS was 72 %, which was an increase of 2 %. The diesel modification positively affected the stability of CWS. The comprehensive combustion characteristics index of the same slurry deteriorated with increasing heating rate. At the same heating rate, M-LRCWS has better combined combustion performance, higher flammability and more stable ignition performance. Combustion kinetics calculations showed that the reaction activation energies were 105.50 kJ/mol for M-LRCWS and 99.59 kJ/mol for LRCWS using the FWO method, and 93.48 kJ/mol for M-LRCWS and 92.68 kJ/mol for LRCWS using the Starink method. The activation energy of M-LRCWS is slightly higher than that of LRCWS, which indicates that the diesel fuel is encapsulated in the coal particles and it is difficult to activate the substance. As a result, the dispersion system is more stable and favorable for storage and transportation. The physical functions of LRCWS and M-LRCWS were calculated using the Achar differential equation and the Coats-Redfern integral equation, and the results showed that both LRCWS and M-LRCWS followed the tertiary reaction (F3) mechanism.