Group Ignition of a Cloud of Coal Particles

Ignition of an isolated single coal particle is known to occur either heterogeneously or homogeneously. While single-particle studies may be useful for dilute coal sprays, their application to burners is limited since ignition occurs in the vicinity of the burners where the spray is dense. Rather than considering an isolated particle, one must consider a collection of particles in order to determine the change in ignition characteristics resulting from particle interactions. Thus, group combustion models have been developed essentially to predict the ignition and combustion characteristics of a larger number of interacting drops/particles. This paper presents results of the ignition characteristics of a spherical cloud of uniformly distributed coal particles in quiescent surroundings using a simple group combustion model. For the conditions studied, the results are as follows: (1) Ignition is heterogeneous if the cloud is dilute and homogeneous if the cloud is dense under the same ambient conditions; (2) there is a minimum ignition time for a given set of initial conditions corresponding to a certain cloud denseness; (3) ignition time is less sensitive to the denseness of the cloud at higher ambient temperatures; and (4) decreased proximate volatile matter can result in either increased or decreased ignition time depending on the cloud denseness (ignition mode). Qualitative comparisons to experimental data are given; however, these comparisons should be approached with caution since the experimental conditions and geometries may be vastly different than those used in the numerical study presented here.