The coal resource in Xinjiang region accounts for over 40% of the national total reserves
[1], and is dominant as low-rank coal with high volatile content. Most studies suggest that pyrolysis technology is an effective route as an efficient utilization based on the quality of low-rank coal
[2]. However, low yield of tar and high content of heavy components in tar are presented due to low H/C atomic ratio of coal. Co-pyrolysis of coal and biomass can solve the problem, which utilizes hydrogen-rich free radicals generated from pyrolysis of biomass with higher H/C atomic ratio to stabilize the macromolecular free radicals generated from coal pyrolysis and suppresses the polymerization reactions among them, contributing to generate more tar
[3−4]. However, high oxygen content of biomass leads to the efficiency reduction of H that can be effectively transferred into coal. Tarves et al.
[5−6] found that tar yield can be significantly increased by coupling the H-rich free radicals generated from methane activation with coal pyrolysis process. Meanwhile, co-pyrolysis of biomass and coal also follows the free radical reaction mechanism, therefore, externally introducing the hydrogen or H-rich free radicals into co-pyrolysis is expected to increase tar yield. Additionally, CH
4 and CO
2, as co-pyrolysis gas products, can be cyclically utilized through coupling of catalytic CH
4/CO
2 activation with co-pyrolysis process, improving the hydrogen utilization efficiency.
Biomass undergoes pyrolysis before coal during their co-pyrolysis, therefore, the mixing modes will directly affect interactions of volatiles-volatiles, volatiles-char and char-char
[7]. Li et al.
[8] investigated effect of mixing methods on co-pyrolysis behavior of Baiyinhua coal and pine wood on an infrared-heated fixed-bed. They found that the experimental tar yield was approximately 8.29% higher than the theoretical value when coal was placed above pine wood, significantly different from the negative synergistic effect when coal was under pine wood. This was mainly attributed to the fact that H-rich gas produced by rapid pyrolysis of pine wood participated in the interaction between volatiles and coal. Wang et al.
[9] examined effect of filling methods on co-pyrolysis at 500 °C, and the results showed that the highest tar yield and the lowest char yield were obtained when biomass was on the top of coal, which was attributed to that the free radicals formed from biomass pyrolysis reacted with coal. Zhu et al.
[10] further compared effects of mechanical and layered mixing methods on tar yield of co-pyrolysis of Naomaohu coal and pine wood, and also discovered that the U-type method (coal on top and biomass on the bottom) had the highest tar yield, and considered that it was related to the particle packing density and spatial void inconsistency of the raw materials.
Our previous research found that, when Naomaohu coal and elm were mixed using mechanical mixing method and integrated with CO2 reforming of methane at 500 °C, the tar yield was 35.29% higher than co-pyrolysis alone. To study influence of different mixing modes on the integrated process of co-pyrolysis between coal and biomass with CO2 reforming of methane to further improve tar yield, in this work, influence of mixing modes was explored via an infrared-heated fixed-bed. Influences of mixing modes on interaction mechanism between volatiles, char and H-rich free radicals generated by the reforming process during integrated process were clarified by analyzing products distribution, tar quality, tar composition, and concentration of free radicals in the tar.