THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

Kun Liu

,

Fubiao Zhi

,

Guangchao Liu

,

Qianqian Yang

,

Jinjiang Zhao

,

Guoyan Chen

KINETIC ANALYSIS OF IRON/CALCIUM-BASED OXYGEN CARRIERS AIDED COMBUSTION

ABSTRACT
This study employed thermogravimetric analysis combined with kinetic analysis to investigate the effects of iron/calcium-based oxygen carriers on the combustion characteristics of lignite coke. In the experiments, lignite coke was mixed with different iron-based oxygen carriers at a 1:1 mass ratio and tested at heating rates of 10, 20, and 30℃/min; reaction kinetic parameters were calculated using the KAS method. The results indicate that the addition of iron-based oxygen carriers narrows the combustion reaction range and shifts the ignition temperature of the coal briquettes toward lower temperatures. After adding oxygen carriers, the combustion completion temperature decreased from a minimum of 655.3℃ to 602.8℃, confirming that oxygen carriers effectively promote the oxidation process of coal briquettes by releasing lattice oxygen. The Fe2O3-CaO mixed oxygen carrier exhibited the optimal synergistic effect; although the comprehensive combustion index decreased slightly, the reaction rate increased; The introduction of oxygen carriers increased the reaction activation energy. Under graphite conditions, the activation energy was 115.23 kJ/mol; after adding oxygen carriers, the activation energies for Fe-G, Ca-G, and FeCa-G were 210.71 kJ/mol, 225.54 kJ/mol, and 210.99 kJ/mol, respectively, the same trend was observed under all coal and coke conditions. This is attributed to the alteration of reaction pathways caused by the addition of the oxygen carrier; however, due to the kinetic compensation effect of the pre-index factor, the addition of iron/calcium-based oxygen carriers generally promoted the combustion process and accelerated the reaction.
KEYWORDS
iron/calcium-based oxygen carriers, assisted combustion, comprehensive combustion index, kinetic analysis, activation energy
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2026-03-31
PAPER REVISED: 2026-05-20
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2026-05-25
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2026-07-11
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI260331102L
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Kinetic analysis of iron/calcium-based oxygen carriers aided combustion

© 2026 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence