Various
amounts of Na2SO4, Na2S2O7, and Na3Fe(SO4)3 were
added to two kinds of coal ash to study the effects of sodium-containing
sulfates on ash fusibility. Ash fusion temperature (AFT) tests and
X-ray diffraction (XRD) were applied to measure the ash fusibility
and detect mineral compositions. Thermodynamic calculations were used
to analyze mineral transformations of ash samples. It was found that
the AFTs decreased with increasing sodium-containing sulfate contents.
The primary sodium-containing minerals in ash mixed with Na2SO4 were nepheline, nosean, and albite, which all had
low melting points and easily formed low-temperature co-melts. Labradorite
appeared when the ash was mixed with Na2S2O7 and Na3Fe(SO4)3, leading
to lower AFTs when compared to ash mixed with Na2SO4. The trend of liquidus temperatures from thermodynamic calculations
was consistent with the AFT tests. The calculations also indicated
that sodium-containing minerals were easily formed because of low-reaction
ΔG values.
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