Influence of the hydrothermal dewatering on the combustion characteristics of Chinese low-rank coals

This study investigates the influence of hydrothermal dewatering performed at different temperatures on the combustion characteristics of Chinese low-rank coals with different coalification maturities. It was found that the upgrading process significantly decreased the inherent moisture and oxygen content, increased the calorific value and fixed carbon content, and promoted the damage of the hydrophilic oxygen functional groups. The results of oxygen/carbon atomic ratio indicated that the upgrading process converted the low-rank coals near to high-rank coals which can also be gained using the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the combustion processes of upgraded coals were delayed toward the high temperature region, and the upgraded coals had higher ignition and burnout temperature. On the other hand, based on the higher average combustion rate and comprehensive combustion parameter, the upgraded coals performed better compared with raw brown coals and the Da Tong bituminous coal. In ignition segment, the activation energy increased after treatment but decreased in the combustion stage. The changes in coal compositions, microstructure, rank, and combustion characteristics were more notable as the temperature in hydrothermal dewatering increased from 250 to 300 °C or coals of lower ranks were used. - Highlights: • Typical Chinese lignites with various ranks are upgraded by hydrothermal dewatering. • Upgraded coals exhibit chemical compositions comparable with that of bituminous coal. • FTIR show the change of microstructure and improvement in coal rank after upgrading. • Upgraded coals exhibit difficulty in ignition but combust easily. • More evident effects are obtained for raw brown coal with relative lower rank.