Simultaneous drying and pyrolysis of solid fuel particles

Drying and devolatilization are studied at combustion temperatures. The surface temperature of particles at the end of drying can significantly exceed the temperature when devolatilization starts, implying that drying and pyrolysis may partly overlap. Devolatilization is controlled by heat transfer, when the particle size is large. The critical particle size at which heat transfer dominates chemical kinetics is discussed. A model for calculating the intrinsic rate of generation of volatiles in the regime of heat transfer control is presented. A novel isotherm migration method is used for the computation of simultaneous drying and pyrolysis inside a fuel particle. It applies to the study of heat transfer in a one-dimensional geometry with moving phase-change boundaries, internal fluid flow and mass generation, including steep temperature and density profiles, as frequently encountered in combustion.