In
this study, pressurized method was used to dry lignite at moderate
temperature to change its pore structure but preserve its oxygen-containing
functional groups. The effects of drying conditions (time, pressure,
and temperature) on equilibrium moisture content (EMC) and pore structure
of dewatered coals were investigated, and the correlations between
pore structure and EMC were also evaluated. The pore structure parameters
of raw coal and dewatered coals were measured by nitrogen adsorption
experiments. The EMC of dewatered coals was obtained by gravimetric
method. The results indicated that the porous structure of dewatered
coal was jointly affected by three factors (drying time, pressure,
and temperature) in the initial pressurized drying stage. The drying
pressure exhibited obvious effect in the initial stage of drying lignite.
Destruction of pores under pressure was prevented due to the water
present in these pores. To further improve the pore structures of
dehydrated coals obtained by high-pressure treatment, the temperature
was increased to above 140 °C under 3 MPa; thus, a large number
of macropores were evolved into mesopores. Furthermore, the experiments
on water reabsorption by dewatered coals indicated that the EMC (0.15–0.18)
of dehydrated coal was the lowest when the pressure was 3 MPa, temperature
was 140–160 °C, and the time required was 30 min. The
moisture readsorption contents of dehydrated coals were found to be
positively correlated with its pore volume at high relative humidity.
When the relative humidity was below 20%, they were related to specific
surface areas or oxygen-containing functional groups. Therefore, pressure
in the process of drying lignite was the main factor influencing the
pore structure and the water reabsorption of dewatered coals, and
the drying temperature was dominant under the pressurizing conditions.
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