Study on effect of furfural residue addition on fusion characteristics of gasification coal ash

The co-gasification of furfural residue with coal is a feasible way to realize its clean and efficient utilization, but there is a high content of alkaline components in the furfural residue ash. Therefore, the effect of furfural residue addition on the fusion temperature of gasification coal ash was investigated, in which a typical furfural residue and two gasification coals with different ratios of silicon to aluminum (Si/Al) were selected. X-ray diffraction instrument (XRD) was used to measure the mineral evolution of co-gasification ash at different temperatures. The phase change in equilibrium state was calculated by the software FactSage. The results show that with the increase in furfural residue addition ratio, the fusion temperatures of both gasification coal ashes first increase and then decrease, while the increase trend of fusion temperatures for the coal with a high Si/Al ratio is more significant. When the furfural residue is added, the resulting high melting point mineral of gasification slag is changed from anorthite (CaAl₂Si₂O₈) to leucite (KAlSi₂O₆) that is still present as a solid phase at 1300 °C, resulting in an increase of AFTs. The coal ash with more amount of SiO₂ can react with K₂O to produce more leucite (KAlSi₂O₆) with a higher fusion point, thus causing the ash fusion temperatures to rise. However, as the ratio of furfural residue addition continues to increase, the ash fusion temperatures decrease, which is attributed to the formation of kaliophilite (KAlSiO₄) with a low fusion point that is generated in the presence of higher content of K₂O.