Cofiring
of biomass and coal significantly reduces carbon emissions
and alleviates ash-related problems of biomass. This study investigates
the effect of the biomass/coal blending ratio on ash fusion characteristics
through the ash fusion test, X-ray fluorescence, and X-ray diffractometry.
Meanwhile, kinetic analysis of the ash fusion process was conducted
to provide a new method and reading benchmark for obtaining precise
and repeatable initial deformation temperature (IDT). Results showed
that the IDT decreased with the increase of the biomass blending ratio
because of the decrease of alumina content and the increase of potassium
content. When the biomass blending ratio increased, the content of
orthoclase and diopside at the low melting point increased, while
the content of andalusite, quartz, and anhydrite at the high melting
point decreased, resulting in the decline of IDT. Kinetic analysis
indicated that with increasing biomass blending ratio, the activation
energy of ash fusion reaction decreased, which is the essential reason
for the decrease of IDT. Coal ash had an activation energy of 1144.67
kJ·mol–1, while it decreased to 145.89 kJ·mol–1 with an increased biomass blending ratio to 100%.
Compared with the larger error (up to 60 °C) caused by visual
reading on the morphological change of the triangle ash cone, kinetics
calculation gave precise prediction with less error between 2 and
7 °C. As an optimal recommendation, the average shrinkage rate
of height at 41% could be used as a reading benchmark for the determination
of IDT in further study.