Waste Management xxx (2010) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Waste Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

Characteristics of carbonized sludge for co-combustion in pulverized coal

power plants
Sang-Woo Park, Cheol-Hyeon Jang ⇑
Department of Environmental Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon 305-719, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Co-combustion of sewage sludge can destabilize its combustion profile due to high volatility, which results
Received 25 March 2010 in unstable flame. We carried out fuel reforming for sewage sludge by way of carbonization at pyrolysis
Accepted 5 October 2010 temperature of 300–500 °C. Fuel characteristics of carbonized sludge at each temperature were analyzed.
Available online xxxx
As carbonization temperature increased, fuel ratio increased, volatile content reduced, and atomic ratio
relation of H/C and O/C was similar to that of lignite. The analysis result of FT-IR showed the decrease
of aliphatic C–H bond and O–C bond in carbonization. In the analysis result of TG–DTG, the thermogravi-
metry reduction temperature of carbonized sludge (CS400) was proven to be higher than that of dried
sludge, but lower than that of sub-bituminous coal. Hardgrove grindability index increased in proportion
to fuel ratio increase, where the carbonized sludge value of 43–110 was similar or higher than the coal
value of 49–63. As for ash deposits, slagging and fouling index were higher than that of coal. When carbon-
ized sludge (CS400) and coal were co-combusted in 1–10% according to calorific value, slagging tendency
was low in all conditions, and fouling tendency was medium or high according to the compositions of coal.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction examples of which include receiving treatment cost from waste

As of 2007, total 2,744,201 ton of dehydrated sewage sludge
were produced in Korea, 68% of which was treated by ocean dump-
ing (KEM, 2008a). However, a measure mandating all sewage
sludge be treated in land will take effect starting 2012, and there
is an urgent need to investigate effective treatment strategies for
sewage sludge. Meanwhile, Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)
will be introduced to power producers from 2012 (KERI, 2009) in
order to convert sewage sludge into solid fuel by co-combustion
in coal-fired power plants (KEM, 2009). Among 10 (24,205 MW)
national coal-fired power plants, 9 (23,805 MW) are pulverized
coal power plants, and 1 (400 MW) fluidized-bed power plant
(KPE, 2009). Since the whole quantity of coal (bituminous coal,
sub-bituminous coal) used in pulverized coal power plants is im-
ported, an effort is being made to increase the generation effi-
ciency. The bituminous coal generation efficiency in 2008 was
39.45% (Gross standard) (KEEI, 2009). Among 48 boilers in pulver-
ized coal power plants (9), 50% were installed in the last 10 years
and 79.2% in 20 years, which indicates that they are considered
as relatively new equipments.
Several EU countries carry out co-combustion of dried and/or
dehydrated sewage sludge in coal power plants (Werther and
Ogada, 1999; Luts et al., 2000; Stelmach and Wasielewski, 2008;
Hansson et al., 2009). Various tactics are employed to facilitate it,
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 42 821 1258; fax: +82 42 821 1476.
E-mail address: jangch@hanbat.ac.kr (C.-H. Jang).
producers (Werther, 2009; KEM, 2008b), co-combustion in co-gen-
eration power plants (EnBW, 2010), and co-combustion with low-
rank fuel, such as lignite (NEDO, 2009). In the case power plants in
Korea, however, such types of co-combustion may not be feasible
as additional considerations in generation efficiency must also be
looked at. Moreover, the flame may not be stable because of high
volatile matter in dried sludge, which may change its combustion
profiles (Tsuji et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2009).
Therefore, fuel reforming is needed in the applicability aspect in
co-combustion in order to maintain generation efficiency, to re-
duce fuel cost, and to reduce the impact on climate change. In this
study, carbonization was carried out for sewage sludge fuel
reforming, and the fuel characteristics of carbonized sludge were
investigated. First, the basic properties as fuel were studied
through proximate analysis and ultimate analysis. Second, Hard-
grove grindability index (HGI) was examined. Third, issues con-
cerning ash deposition of slagging and fouling (Ireland et al.,
2004; Kupka et al., 2008) were predicted by investigating ash com-
position and fusion.
2. Experimentation
2.1. Manufacturing of carbonized sludge
Sludge samples were collected in September 2009 from munici-
pal sewage treatment facilities in Daejon, South Korea. Dehydra-
tion process was accelerated by adding organic polymer

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doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2010.10.009

Please cite this article in press as: Park, S.-W., Jang, C.-H. Characteristics of carbonized sludge for co-combustion in pulverized coal power plants. Waste
Management (2010), doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2010.10.009
2 S.-W. Park, C.-H. Jang / Waste Management xxx (2010) xxx–xxx

3172; ASTM D 3173; ASTM D 3174; ASTM D 3175. Fuel ratio is ex-
pressed as the ratio of fixed carbon to volatile matter (FC/VM)
using proximate analysis. The chemical structure of carbonized
sludge was investigated by FT-IR (Nicolet 6700). One type of sub-
bituminous coal (Coal-A) and two types of bituminous coal (Coal-
B, Coal-C) from coal used in pulverized coal power plants were
analyzed for characteristic comparison with carbonized sludge.
The physicochemical characteristics of carbonized sludge are de-
scribed in Table 1.

2.2.2. Thermogravimetric analysis

A heat analysis was conducted with coal to evaluate combus-
tion profiles of carbonized sludge. Although devolatilization and
char combustion are usually analyzed separately in a heat analysis,
it was not so in this study since this study aimed to examine the
initial combustion profiles of carbonized sludge. The heating rate
was raised by TGA (TGA851e Mettler-Toledo) in oxidizing atmo-
sphere from 5 °C/min to 600 °C in 10 mg of the sample pulverized
at 100–200 mesh. The following samples were analyzed: one dried
sludge, one carbonized sludge, one sub-bituminous coal, and one
bituminous coal.

2.2.3. Hardgrove grindability index

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of carbonization apparatus.
flocculant to sludge. Sludge was digested anaerobically, then dehy-
drated by belt-press and dried (hereafter DS). Sludge sample used
in this report has typical and representative properties among sew-
age sludge collected from various municipal treatment facilities in
Korea (Phae et al., 1998; NIER, 2004). This is due to the standard
pretreatment procedure for sewage sludge, such as anaerobic
digestion and injection of organic polymer flocculants. The proce-
dure is carried out identically in all metropolitan treatment plants
in Korea. A batch type carbonization furnace with external heating
shown in Fig. 1 was used as a carbonizing system for dried sludge.
Carbonization condition was set to carbonize for 30 min at each
pyrolysis temperature (300 °C, 350 °C, 400 °C, 450 °C, and 500 °C).
Carbonized samples in 300–500 °C are described as CS300–CS500
hereafter.
2.2. Characteristics of carbonized sludge
2.2.1. Basic property
C, H, O, N, S were measured by the ultimate analyzer (Thermo
1112), and calorific value was measured by calorimeter (Parr
1261EA). The proximate analysis was conducted by ASTM D
HGI is a critical variable in combustion profiles, as well as in the
pulverizer operation which includes electric power consumption
and wear level of pulverizer. HGI needs to be investigated to im-
prove combustibility since pulverized coal is combusted in a boiler
after being pulverized to a size less than 75 lm (with the passing
of more than 70%). HGI investigation was complied with ASTM D
409, and the pulverizer used the roller mill method (Table 1).
2.3. Ash deposits
For ash of coal and carbonized sludge (CS400), the sample com-
busted (815 °C) in an electric furnace was used. Ash fusion was
measured by LECO-700 in a reducing atmosphere. The element
contents of ash composition was analyzed by ICP–AES (iCAP
6000) and converted to an oxide form.
2.3.1. Slagging and fouling index
In the condition of high temperature combustion gas, coal ash
particles could adhere to the surface of boiler tube or heat exchan-
ger (superheater, reheater, economizer) resulting in heat transfer
efficiency reduction and tube fracture by local overheating. For this
reason, it is very important to predict and evaluate the character-
istics of ash deposition. We evaluated ash deposition by its slag-
ging index and fouling index. As shown in Table 2, slagging index
was calculated with formulae 1–3, while formulae 4–6 were used

Table 1
Analysis of carbonized sludge and coals.

Raw sludge Carbonized sludge Sub-bituminous coal Bituminous Coal

DS CS300 CS350 CS400 CS450 CS500 Coal-A Coal-B Coal-C
Proximate analysis (wt.%, db) Moisture-wb 3.35 0.93 0.68 0.64 0.46 0.37 15.24 6.03 5.78
Ash 52.11 57.33 61.61 65.73 68.95 73.14 5.36 7.23 12.62
VM 42.33 36.73 31.84 27.32 23.55 18.55 46.60 34.45 29.08
FC 5.56 5.94 6.55 6.95 7.50 8.31 48.04 58.32 58.30
Fuel ratio 0.13 0.16 0.21 0.25 0.32 0.45 1.03 1.69 2.00
Ultimate analysis (wt.%, db) C 23.09 22.51 22.02 22.08 20.10 17.33 70.68 76.25 74.02
H 3.54 2.90 2.53 2.51 2.18 1.55 5.01 4.73 4.22
O 17.57 13.87 10.72 6.83 5.94 5.47 17.36 10.57 6.93
N 3.45 3.28 3.02 3.03 2.74 2.30 1.42 1.07 1.81
S 0.66 0.53 0.53 0.51 0.43 0.45 0.18 0.14 0.41
Net-calorific value (MJ/kg) 9.70 9.65 9.42 8.82 8.14 6.93 20.92 25.53 25.64
HGI 33 43 58 74 90 110 55 49 63

Please cite this article in press as: Park, S.-W., Jang, C.-H. Characteristics of carbonized sludge for co-combustion in pulverized coal power plants. Waste
Management (2010), doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2010.10.009
 S.-W. Park, C.-H. Jang / Waste Management xxx (2010) xxx–xxx
Table 2
Summary of key empirical correlations for slagging and fouling.
Classification Index Formula
Slagging Base-to-ratio(B/A)
(1)
Iron-calcium ratio(I/C) (2)
Sulfur ratio(Rs) (3)
Fouling Total alkalis(TA) (4) Na2 O þ K2 O
Na2O ratio(Rf) (5) AB  Na2 O
Fu (6) AB  ðNa2 O þ K2 OÞ
for measuring fouling index (Vamvuka et al., 2009; Pronobis, 2005;
Bryers, 1996).
2.3.2. Slagging and fouling tendency according to co-combustion rate
of carbonized sludge
The chemical components of the mixtures of coal and 1%, 2%,
3%, 5% and 10% of carbonized sludge according to calorific value
are described in Table 3.
Chemical constitution of crucible ashes and values calculated
from fusibility correlations for co-combustion of carbonized sludge
with coals.
As in Table 3, proportions of both fuels have been described by
means of the thermal fraction of the carbonized sludge
mD Q D
ZD ¼ ;
mD Q D þ mB Q B
where m is the mass flow (kg/s), Q is the net-calorific value (MJ/kg)
(index B is for basic fuel and D is for additional fuel). The following
values of thermal fractions were assumed in the present work: ZD
0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.05 and 0.1. Similarly, calculated mass fractions
of the carbonized sludge
mD
YD ¼
mD þ mB
have also been described in the Table 3.
Because ash component is a bituminous coal type, slagging ten-
dency in co-combustion was applied to formula 3 (Rs), and fouling
tendency in co-combustion to formula 5 (Rf).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Characteristics of carbonized sludge
3.1.1. Effect of pyrolysis temperature of carbonized sludge
The relation between the calorific value of sewage sludge
according to carbonization temperature and fuel ratio is shown
in Fig. 2.
As in Fig. 2, fuel ratio (FC/VM) increased gradually as carboniza-
tion temperature increased, with initial dried sludge going from
0.13 to 0.16 (CS300), 0.21 (CS350), 0.25 (CS400), 0.32 (CS450)
and 0.45 (CS500), while net-calorific value was reduced from
9.70 MJ/kg to 6.93 MJ/kg as carbonization temperature increased.
This result is lower than the sub-bituminous coal fuel ratio of
1.03 and net-calorific value of 20.92 MJ/kg. However, since volatile
matter content (daf-basis) was reduced from 88.4% to 69.0% as car-
bonization temperature increased, it is expected that combustion
profiles near the burner becomes stable.
Fig. 3 displays the atomic ratio relation between O/C and H/C in
proportion to carbonization temperature. The relation between O/
C and H/C was reduced as carbonization temperature increased. H/
C range of lignite is generally 0.8–1.3, and O/C range 0.2–0.38,
Please cite this article in press as: Park, S.-W., Jang, C.-H. Characteristics of carbonized sludge for co-combustion in pulverized coal power plants. Waste
Management (2010), doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2010.10.009
3
Tendency
Low Medium High
Fe2 O3 þCaOþMgOþK2 OþNa2 O <0.5 0.5 < B/A < 1 >1
SiO2 þTiO2 þAl2 O3
Fe2 O3 <0.31 or >3 <10.3 < I/C < 3 –1
CaO
B


A  Sðin dry fuelÞ
<0.6 0.6 < Rs < 2 >2
<0.3 0.3 < TA < 0.4 >0.4


<0.2 0.2 < Rf < 0.5 >0.5


60.6 – 0.6 < Fu 6 40
while H/C range of sub-bituminous coal and bituminous coal
0.4–0.95, and O/C range 0.02–0.2 (Jenkins et al., 1998; Baxter,
1993). H/C range of carbonized sludge was 1.07–1.55 and O/C
range 0.23–0.46, being similar to those of lignite. On the other
hand, changes in combustion profiles are expected in power plants
using bituminous coal as designed coal since H/C of dried sludge is
1.84 and O/C range 0.57. After considering coal band characteristics
and pyrolysis temperature in Fig. 3, we chose CS400 as the research
target for examining various characteristic of carbonized sludge,
e.g., FT-IR, TG–DTG, and ash deposition. Due to fuel reforming by
carbonization, the analysis result of FT-IR (Fig. 4) shows the de-
crease of aliphatic C–H bond (2800–3000 cm1) compared to dried
sludge, consistent to the result in Fig. 3. O–H bond (3200–
3610 cm1) was also reduced corresponding to volatile matter
reduction by carbonization. Although the strength of C–H bond
and O–H bond is less than that of coal because of high ash content,
it is similar to coal in the evaluation of dry-ash-free (daf) standard.
In particular, bituminous coal (Coal-C) showed a similar curve to
that of carbonized sludge (CS400), whereas sub-bituminous coal
(Coal-A) showed a similar curve to that of dried sludge (DS).
3.1.2. Thermogravimetric analysis
The result of TG–DTG conducted to examine combustion pro-
files is shown in Fig. 5.
As in Fig. 5, DTG peak of sub-bituminous coal (Coal-A) is lo-
cated in the low degree area compared to that of bituminous coal
(Coal-C), which indicates that pyrolysis and combustion speed is
faster than bituminous coal (Coal-C). On the other hand, the first
peaks of dried sludge (DS) and carbonized sludge (CS400) show
reduction in the lower degree than the above. In TG analysis,
mass reduction speed is faster than coal (Coal-A, C). The reduction
of carbonized sludge began at the higher temperature than that
for dried sludge as a result of fuel reforming since dried sludge
fuel ratio is 0.13 while that of carbonized sludge is 0.25
(CS400). Therefore, dried sludge can affect initial combustion
behavior or flame stability because of high volatile content, while
fuel-reformed carbonized sludge can minimize the impact on the
combustion profiles.
3.1.3. Hardgrove grindability index (HGI)
As shown in Fig. 6, HGI of fuel-reformed carbonized sludge was
higher than that of dried sludge, which is related to fuel ratio in-
crease. HGI of dried sludge was low because of high volatile con-
tent absorbing grinding impact. The same result was obtained in
the technical evaluation of Japan sewage works agency (JSWA,
2008). The higher the HGI is, the more pulverized it is and the bet-
ter its reaction is, resulting in reduction effect of heat loss caused
by unburned combustibles. With HGI of coal as a reference being
45–65, carbonization condition of CS400 is satisfactory for pulver-
izing efficiency in co-combustion.
4 S.-W. Park, C.-H. Jang / Waste Management xxx (2010) xxx–xxx

12 0.5

0.244
Fuel ratio

54.94
19.44

9.63
1.63
5.29
1.64
1.92
4.66
0.82
Calorific value

0.1

Calorific value (MJ/kg)

10 0.4

0.133
55.16
19.21

5.44
1.25

3.58
0.89
10.90
2.01

1.50
0.05

Fuel ratio
0.083
8 0.3

2.27
5.54

1.22
2.85
0.95

0.99
55.31

11.77
0.03

19.06
0.056
55.41
18.95

12.35
2.44
5.61

2.36
0.98

0.81
1.03
0.02

6 0.2
Coal-C + CS400

0.029
55.54
18.82

2.66
5.69

1.75
0.59
0.79
13.07
1.02
0.01

4 0.1
DS CS300 CS350 CS400 CS450 CS500
Carbonization temperatures
Coal-C

0.31
0.49
0.97
18.66

13.99
2.93
55.70

1.08

5.80
0
0

Fig. 2. Influence of pyrolysis temperature on fuel ratio and calorific value of

carbonized sludge.
0.243

7.17

5.45
0.71

0.94
52.58
20.76

8.05
2.03
2.30
0.1

2.0
0.132

7.25

1.77
1.99
4.54
0.74
51.35
21.32

10.02
0.05

1.00

DS

1.8
Chemical constitution of crucible ashes and values calculated from fusibility correlations for co-combustion of carbonized sludge with coals.

0.082

H/C atomic ratio

21.77
50.36

7.32

1.56
1.74
3.82
0.76

11.60
1.04
0.03

1.6 CS 300
0.056

0.78
49.61
22.11

7.37

1.41
1.56
3.27
0.02

12.80
1.07

CS 350
Coal-B + CS400

CS 400
1.4
CS 450
0.028

7.45
1.12

1.19
0.81
48.56
22.58

14.47

1.30
2.50
0.01

1.2
CS 500
Coal-B

46.99
23.29

16.99
7.56
1.19

1.35
0.85

0.86
0.91

1.0
0
0

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

O/C atomic ratio
0.209
53.12
19.79

9.32
1.41
5.95
1.94
2.36
5.34
0.75
0.1

Fig. 3. Van Krevelen diagram for carbonized sludge obtained at different

temperatures.
0.111

0.81
19.72

10.86
1.78

1.61

4.32
52.20
0.05

6.60

2.08

3.2. Characteristics of ash deposits

0.068

7.13
1.34
1.85
3.48
0.86
51.44
19.59

12.13
2.09
0.03

3.2.1. Ash fusion and slagging/fouling properties

The ash fusion and ash composition of carbonized sludge
(CS400) and coal (sub-bituminous coal and bituminous coal) are
0.046

19.62

13.11
50.86

2.33
7.54
1.13
1.68
2.83
0.02

0.90

described in Tables 4 and 5.

Coal-A + CS400

The ash fusion temperature (IDT) of carbonized sludge is

1043 °C, which is lower than 1169 °C for sub-bituminous coal. On
0.023

0.95

0.82
19.55

14.52
2.67
8.14

1.43
0.01

50.01

1.90

the other hand, Coal-B (1173 °C) and Coal-C (1299 °C) displayed
a difference as bituminous coal. This result indicates that applica-
bility is evaluated in consideration of ash fusion of designed coal in
Coal-A

0.35

0.44
19.45

16.72
48.70

1.04

3.20
9.06

1.03

the power plants co-combusting the carbonized sludge, or applied

0
0

coal. Meanwhile, the difference of DT (FT – IDT) was biggest in

CS400 and smallest in Coal-A. It is known that small DT builds thin
CS400

4.99
2.43
2.77
6.85
0.66

0.86
54.49

7.03
19.90

and firm deposition of coal ash on the furnace wall, which is hard
1
1

to remove (Gupta et al., 1998).

According to Table 5, the slagging index of CS400 shows lower
Unit

(B/A) or higher (Rs) than that of coals in evaluation index, and ten-
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
–
–

dency was evaluated as low (B/A, Rs) and medium (I/C). It is as-
sumed that sub-bituminous coal and bituminous coal used in
Fe2O3
Al2O3

Na2O
MgO

P2O5
Table 3

TiO2
SiO2

CaO

K2O
YD
ZD

this study do not interfere significantly in co-combustion. On the

other hand, the fouling tendency of CS400 shows very high value

Please cite this article in press as: Park, S.-W., Jang, C.-H. Characteristics of carbonized sludge for co-combustion in pulverized coal power plants. Waste
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 S.-W. Park, C.-H. Jang / Waste Management xxx (2010) xxx–xxx 5

0.20 120 0.5

HGI Fuel ratio
0.18
100
0.16 0.4

0.14

Fuel ratio
80

HGI
0.12 0.3
Absorbance

0.10 60
Coal-C Coal-A
0.08 0.2
40
0.06

0.04 20 0.1
DS DS CS300 CS350 CS400 CS450 CS500
0.02
Carbonization temperatures
CS-400
0.00 Fig. 6. HGI of carbonized sludge obtained at different temperatures.
4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500
Wavenumbers (cm ) -1

Fig. 4. FT-IR spectra of coals and sludge (DS and CS400).

Table 4
Crucible ashes fusion temperatures(°C).

compared to coals because of the high content of volatile inorganic Fusion Sewage Sub-bituminous Bituminous
components Na2O, K2O as shown in ash composition (Fig. 7). temperatures sludge coal coal

Generally, ash composition varies according to the chemical CS400 Coal-A Coal- Coal-
addition for stabilization and improvement of sewage sludge B C

(Leckner, 2007). In the study result of Kupka et al. (2008), Gerhardt IDTa 1043 1169 1173 1299
et al. (1998) and Heinzel et al. (1998), sewage sludge has lower ST 1117 1203 1227 1336
HT 1240 1228 1251 1411
content of Al2O3 and higher CaO than those in coal. In this study,
FT 1370 1260 1272 1429
however, we found that Al2O3 was similar in the two, while CaO 4T 327 91 99 130
was lower in sewage sludge than in coal. That result indicates a
IDT, Initial Deformation Temperature; ST, Softening Temperature; HT, Hemi-
the relation of ash composition according to the chemical addition
spherical Temperature; and FT, Fluid Temperature.
in generating sludge. Meanwhile, SiO2, Al2O3, TiO2 were similar,
CaO and Fe2O3 were low, and Na2O, K2O, P2O5 were high as shown
in the result of comparison with coal. This suggests that a caution
is required in deciding co-combustion rate due to high possibility Table 5
of interference by fouling. Slagging and fouling indices for crucible ashes.

Fuel Slagging index Fouling index

B/A Rs I/C TA Rf Fu
3.2.2. Slagging and fouling tendency by co-combustion rate a
CS 400 0.24‘ 0.12‘ 1.41m 5.20h 0.59h 1.25h
Figs. 8 and 9 display slagging/fouling index in co-combustion of
Coal-A 0.44‘ 0.08‘ 1.85h 1.38h 0.15‘ 0.61h
coal with 1–10% of carbonized sludge according to calorific value. Coal-B 0.39‘ 0.05‘ 0.44h 1.77h 0.33m 0.68h
As shown in Fig. 8, slagging index increased as co-combustion Coal-C 0.31‘ 0.13‘ 2.41h 0.80h 0.10‘ 0.25‘
rate of carbonized sludge increased, and slagging tendency was a
‘, low tendency; m, medium tendency; and h, high tendency.
lower than 0.6 even in maximum 10%. On the other hand, Coal-C

100 8
TG DTG
7
Weight loss (-% / min)

80 CS
6
Weight loss (wt%)

5
60 Coal-A
4
Coal-C
40 DS 3
CS 400
2 DS
20
Coal - A Coal - C 1

0 0
100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Temperature (°C) Temperature (°C)

Fig. 5. TG and DTG curves of coals and sludge (DS and CS400).

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6 S.-W. Park, C.-H. Jang / Waste Management xxx (2010) xxx–xxx

was high because of higher Rs than other types of coal in the slag- 0.8
ging index according to coal type. Coal-A Coal-B Coal-C
As shown in Fig. 9, co-combustion with Coal-C shows lower than
medium fouling tendency in all conditions. On the other hand, Coal- High tendency
A shows lower than medium tendency in co-combustion rate of 3%, 0.6
Coal-B, 2%. It is expected that co-combustion with Coal-B might
cause heat interference and increase in pressure loss by adhering

Fouling index
to steam superheater because of the high tendency after 2%. Due
to this high fouling index of sewage sludge itself, applicability for
co-combustion in pulverized coal power plants should be decided 0.4
in consideration of co-combustion rate and fouling index of coal. Medium

4. Conclusions 0.2

Carbonization was carried out as fuel reforming for co-combus- Low

tion of sewage sludge in the newest pulverized coal power plants,
and the characteristics of carbonized sludge are as follows. 0.0
As carbonization temperature increased from 300 °C to 500 °C, CS400 1% 2% 3% 5% 10% Coal
fuel reforming characteristics by carbonization showed sequential Co-combustion rate (CS400 : Coal)

60 Fig. 9. Fouling index of values calculated from fusibility correlations for co-
combustion rate carbonized sludge with coals.
CS 400 Coal-A Coal-B Coal-C
increase in fuel ratio, by 0.16 in CS300, 0.21 in CS350, 0.25 in
50
CS400, 0.32 in CS450 and 0.45 in CS500. Volatile matter content
(daf) on the other hand decreased from 86% in CS300 to 69.0% in
Chemical composition(%)

CS500. These results are higher in fuel ratio than that of DS

40
(0.13), and lower in volatile matter content than that of DS
(88.4%). As for the atomic ratio between H/C and O/C, H/C of car-
bonized sludge (CS300–CS500) was 1.07–1.55 and O/C 0.23–0.46,
30
similar to those of lignite with H/C of 0.8–1.3 and O/C of 0.2–
0.38. Analysis results of FT-IR for CS400 showed that aliphatic C–
H bond and O–C bond was reduced. In the analysis result of TG–
20
DTG, the thermogravimetry reduction temperature of carbonized
sludge (CS400) was higher than that of dried sludge, but lower
than that of sub-bituminous coal. This indicates that the impact
10
on combustion profiles can be minimized in co-combustion. HGI
for carbonized sludge increased by 43 in CS300, 58 in CS350, 74
in CS400, 90 in CS450 and 110 in CS500, showing values similar
0
SiO2 Al2O3 TiO2 Fe2O3 MgO CaO Na2O K2O P2O5 to or higher than coal(49–63). For DS, HGI was only 33. This is low-
er than the value for CS300, a condition of low temperature car-
Fig. 7. Chemical compositions of crucible ashes as oxides. bonization. Increase in HGI by each carbonization condition
showed similar trend as increase of fuel ratio. Ash fusion point of
CS400 was lower than that of coal. Slagging index varied according
0.20 to evaluation indicators, and fouling index was higher than coal in
all indicators. Slagging tendency was low in all conditions when
Coal-A Coal-B Coal-C
coal was co-combusted with carbonized sludge with 1–10% of cal-
orific value. Fouling tendency, however, varied between medium
0.15 and high based on coal compositions.
Compared to dried sludge, carbonized sludge has better com-
Slagging index

bustibility, grindability, and fuel ratio, which makes it a better

co-combustion material for pulverized coal power plants. One
0.10 drawback of carbonized sludge is its higher ash content, which
tends to lead to increased ash deposition. We have shown in this
paper that understanding fuel profile of various samples is neces-
sary to carry out actual application of carbonized sludge in pulver-
0.05 ized-coal-fired power plants. Fuel quality before and after
reformation by carbonization as well as its economic feasibility
should also be further researched.

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0.00
CS400 1% 2% 3% 5% 10% Coal
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