Yidu Hong

Assessing the moisture migration during microwave drying of coal using low-field nuclear magnetic resonance

ABSTRACT Microwave drying of coal has the advantage of volumetric and selective heating, which saves energy and time. However, comprehensive assessment of the moisture migration during microwave drying is lacking. In this study, the low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) was used for moisture characterization during microwave drying. Moisture migration occurs first in larger pores, whereas the smaller pores appear to remain water-saturated. As the microwave power increases, the drying capacity and drying rate both increase because high-power microwave can open the blind pores to promote moisture seepage. Furthermore, moisture migration during microwave drying is usually directional (i.e., along the bedding plane). The LF-NMR method provides a framework for the determination of moisture migration of coals.

Experimental study on the microscopic characteristics affecting methane adsorption on anthracite coal treated with high-voltage electrical pulses

The low gas permeability of coal formations with limited coal pores and fractures leads to difficulty in coalbed methane exploration. High-voltage electrical pulse has a potential application in enhanced coalbed methane recovery. In this study, we discuss the microscopic characteristics of anthracite coals treated by high-voltage electrical pulse. We find that C, O, and other coal elements constituting oxygenic groups, which mainly account for gas adsorption, decreased slightly after high-voltage electrical pulse treatment, indicating that elemental variation may have little influence on gas adsorption. The scanning electron microscopy and low-pressure nitrogen gas adsorption (LP-N2GA) results show that the cumulative micropore volumes of high-voltage electrical pulse-treated coals were much larger than those of original coals. The mercury intrusion porosimetry results show that the cumulative macropore volumes, which act as gas migration channels in coal increased. Additionally, high-voltage electrical pulse-treated coals were found to have smaller entrapment areas, indicating that gas migration was enhanced.

The effect of bend positions on premixed methane–air explosion overpressures in ducts

Bend structures in process industries can enhance gas explosions. Many researchers have studied their effects on flame propagations or overpressure evolutions with experiments or numerical simulations. In this work, three bends with different angles ranging from obtuse to acute were examined, and the effect of bend positions on gas explosions was also studied in the experiments. It was found that the peak overpressure evolutions under three different angles experienced three different stages, i.e. a slight downtrend before the bend, a sudden uptrend in and after the bend, and a following downtrend. The explosion violence was enhanced due to a reflection wave and flame tip wrinkle. The peak overpressure increased when the bend angles decreased because of stronger reflection and turbulence under a smaller bend angle. Additionally, the bend shortened the distance at which the peak overpressure reached its maximum values. However, the bend positions had little effect on the maximum overpressure in the ducts.