Investigation of effect of kaolin addition on combustion characteristic of olive residue

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Fakültesi, Kimya Mühendisliği Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2017

Öğrenci: ÖZGE BATIR

Danışman: GÖRKEM KÜLAH

Özet:

In this thesis study, effect of kaolin addition on combustion characteristic of olive residue was investigated by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) combined with Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer in parallel with ash characteristics by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The experiments were carried out by burning olive residue with 2%, 4% and 8% by wt. kaolin at 900˚C. Results reveal that addition of kaolin leads to decrease in rate of weight loss during char combustion and hence increase in CO emission due to decrease in burning quality caused by dilution effect of kaolin in the mixture. Increase in HCl(g) and SO2(g) concentrations with kaolin addition observed in FTIR results evaluated together with XRF and XRD results demonstrated the pathway of reactions for the capture of potassium by kaolin and formation of high melting temperature kalsilite crystals. Potassium retention in ash was found to increase up to 4% kaolin addition; however, no significant improvement in potassium retention was observed with further addition of kaolin due to abundant amount of Al and Si introduced via kaolin. Moreover, ash melting temperature was found to increase by 200˚C with the addition of 4% kaolin during ash fusion tests. The results showed that optimum 4% kaolin addition decreases slagging and fouling tendency of olive residue during combustion.