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Title: Modified respiratory quotient to evaluate the environmental impact of Chinese coal combustion

Authors: Wei Chen; Yafeng Lei; Shuanglin Shen; Jiafeng Sun; Siva Thanapal; Xueliang Fan

Addresses: School of Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, China ' General Electrical Company, Houston 77041, Texas, USA ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China ' Department of Thermal and Powering Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA ' School of Rail Transportation, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215131, China

Abstract: Considering the effect of ash and moisture on CO₂ emission during combustion, a modified respiratory quotient (RQ_m) was employed to determine the CO₂ emission potential of anthracite, bituminous, lignite, and peat in China. It was found that the conventional RQ of different Chinese coals was almost the same (from 0.9 to 1), but RQ_m of coals varies significantly. The low-rank coals such as peat and lignite have significantly high RQ_m which can go up to 7. The high-rank coals such as anthracite and bituminous coals have RQ_m between 1 and 2. Higher RQ_m means more CO₂ emission since more energy is required to transport or process the low-rank coals. Moreover, correlations between O/C and H/C ratios of the coals and RQ_m were also analysed. It was found that low-rank coals such as lignite and peat have higher H/C and O/C ratios and their RQ_m are correspondingly higher. [Received: April 2, 2017; Accepted: July 1, 2017]

Keywords: respiratory quotient; carbon dioxide; heating value; zero emission; coal.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2018.090009

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2018 Vol.17 No.2, pp.238 - 255

Received: 04 Feb 2017
Accepted: 07 Nov 2017
Published online: 26 Feb 2018 *