Variable-heating-rate wire-mesh pyrolysis apparatus

Abstract

An electrically heated wire-mesh apparatus for pyrolysis studies has been developed which uses computer-driven feedback control for the heating system and thus can apply virtually any time-temperature history to the sample. Internal components are water cooled to prevent heat buildup during long runs. Using this system, coal pyrolysis has been studied at heating rates from 0.1 to about 5000 K/s and temperatures up to 1000 °C. Alternating current is used for heating; this allows the thermocouples to be attached directly to the sample holder and also makes power regulation relatively simple. For atmospheric-pressure experiments, a gas sweep can be forced through the sample holder to remove products from the heated zone and also to concentrate them in a trap which can be removed from the apparatus and weighed to establish tar yields directly. Although the design is optimized for atmospheric-pressure operation, relatively simple modifications allow operation under vacuum or at pressures of up to 160 bars in inert gas or hydrogen. The apparatus has been used to investigate a number of phenomena in coal pyrolysis and, most significantly, has demonstrated the existence of a heating-rate effect which is independent of reactor geometry.