Air and oxy-fuel combustion kinetics of low rank lignites

The air and oxy-fuel combustion processes of two low-grade lignite coals were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) method. Coals were provided from two different coal mines in the Aegean region of Turkey. Oxy-fuel combustion experiments were carried out with three different gas mixtures of 21% O₂–79% CO₂; 40% O₂–60% CO₂ and 50% O₂–50% CO₂ at 950 °C and heating rates of 10 °C/min, 20 °C/min and 40 °C/min. The kinetics of the oxy-fuel combustion of coals were studied by using four different methods namely, Coats-Redfern (model-fitting method), Friedman (FR), Flynn–Wall–Ozawa's (FWO) and Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose's (KAS) methods. The apparent activation energies of combustion process calculated by FWO method are slightly but systematically higher than that calculated by the KAS and FR methods for the oxy-fuel atmospheres. Combustion behavior of both coals in the oxy-fuel combustion environment could vary significantly, likely due to their characteristics such ash and volatile matter contents.     

TGA and kinetic study of different torrefaction conditions of wood biomass under air and oxy-fuel combustion atmospheres

Combustion and oxy-fuel combustion characteristics of torrefied pine wood chips were investigated by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). Three torrefaction temperatures (250, 300, and 350 °C) and two residence times (15 and 30 min) were considered. Experiments were carried out at three heating rates of 10, 20, and 40 °C/min. The isoconversional kinetic methods of FWO, KAS, and Friedman were employed to estimate the activation energies. The assessment of uncertainty in obtaining the activation energy values was also considered. The obtained results indicated that due to torrefaction, the O/C and H/C atomic ratios decreased, resulting the 300ºC-30 min and 350ºC-15 min torrefied biomass to be completely embedded in lignite region in van-Krevelen's diagram. Oxy-fuel combustion affected the decomposition of cellulose and lignin components of biomass while the impact on the hemicellulose component was negligible. The kinetic analysis revealed that with the evolution of conversion degree, the activation energy values increased during hemicellulose degradation, remained approximately constant during cellulose decomposition and showed a sharp decrease for lignin decomposition. The activation energy trends were comparable in both air and oxy-fuel combustion conditions, however slight changes in activation energy values were noticed. The highest activation energy value was obtained for 250ºC-30 min torrefied biomass at 183.40 kJ/mol and the lowest value was 72.93 kJ/mol for 350ºC-15 min biomass. The uncertainty values related to FWO method were lower than KAS and Friedman methods. The uncertainty values for FWO and KAS methods were at the range of 5–15%.     

Experimental study on the flame propagation characteristics of heavy oil oxy-fuel combustion

This paper studied the flame propagation characteristics of heavy oil oxy-fuel combustion in ignition and stable combustion. The results showed that the ignition process could be divided into three stages: the pro-ignition, mid-ignition and end-ignition. The pro-ignition, the fire core generated and evolved into spherical; the mid-ignition, the spherical fire core gradually turn into tapered structure; the end-ignition, the flame tapered structure disappeared and turn into a relative stable columnar structure. By calculating the flame propagation velocities, we found that in the same combustion atmosphere, the flame propagation velocity in 29% O2 was higher than that in 21% O2; in the same O₂ concentration, the flame propagation velocity in O₂/N₂ atmosphere was higher than that in O₂/CO₂. During the stable combustion, we observed the local flame structure extinguished, distorted and grew.     

Experimental study on effects of combustion atmosphere and coal char on NO2 reduction under oxy-fuel condition

Nitrogen oxides (NO_x) as the principal air pollutants are mainly from the combustion of fossil fuels. Oxy-fuel combustion is a promising clean coal technology, by which carbon dioxide (CO₂) can be captured in large-scale and NO_x emission can be reduced significantly. The formation of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) in oxy-fuel combustion exceeds that under traditional air condition. However, the specific studies on NO₂ chemistry under oxy-fuel condition are still insufficient and the functional mechanisms of minerals and combustion atmosphere on NO₂ reduction have yet to be fully understood. The objective of present study is to experimentally clarify the effects of combustion atmosphere and coal char on NO₂ reduction in oxy-fuel combustion using a fixed-bed reactor. Experimental results showed that the decomposition of NO₂ had a strong temperature dependence and the NO₂ reduction rate showed a positive variation with temperature. The strength of catalytic activity in NO₂ reduction to nitric oxide (NO) was Fe₂O₃ > MgO > CaO > Al₂O₃ > Na₂CO₃ > K₂CO₃ > SiO₂. In addition, the increased concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) and CO₂ could promote the reduction of NO₂, while the low content of CO₂ only established a slight impact on NO₂ reduction. However, the increase of oxygen (O₂) concentration displayed an inhibition effect on NO₂ reduction to a certain extent. The variation of atmosphere in oxy-fuel combustion generated a substantial influence on the creation and reduction of NO₂. The char prepared in lower temperature exhibited a higher promotion effect on the consumption of NO₂. Higher contents of fixed carbon and basic oxides had more obvious stimulation effects on NO₂ reduction. Fixed carbon had a superior activity in NO₂ reduction than ash. The kinetic analysis indicated that high content of CO and the presence of char could reduce the apparent activation energy of NO₂ reduction. The present study can be helpful to improve the understanding of NO₂ chemistry in oxy-fuel combustion.     

Experimental study on ash deposition of Zhundong coal in oxy-fuel combustion

To facilitate the large-scale utilization of high-alkali and -alkaline earth metals (AAEMs) coals in power generation, the ash deposition behaviors of a typical Zhundong coal in oxy-fuel combustion were experimentally investigated using a drop tube furnace. A wall-temperature-controlled ash deposition probe by which the bulk gas temperature could be measured simultaneously was designed and employed in the experiments. The deposition tendencies, ash morphologies, chemical compositions of deposited ash particles were studied respectively under various oxygen concentrations, bulk gas temperatures, probe surface temperatures and probe exposure times. The experimental results revealed that the oxygen concentration had a significant influence on the deposition behavior during oxy-fuel combustion of high-alkali coal. Compared with air case, more fine ash particles were generated during the combustion of Zhundong coal in 21% O₂/79% CO₂ atmosphere but the deposition tendency was weaker. However, a higher oxygen concentration could aggravate the tendency of ash deposition. The high contents of iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), sulfur (S), and sodium (Na) in Zhundong coal could result in the generations of low-melting point compounds. Calcium in flue gas existed as CaO and was captured prior to SO₃ by the probe surface during the ash deposition process. At the initial 30 min of the ash deposition process, the dark spherical fine ash particles rich in Fe, Na, oxygen (O), and S were largely produced, while in the range of 60–90 min the light spherical fine ash particles with high contents of Ca, barium (Ba), O, and S were generated on the other hand. The deposition mechanisms at different stages were different and the melted CaO (BaO)/CaSO₄ (BaSO₄) would give rise to a fast growth rate of ash deposit.     

Effects of hydrogen addition to methane on the thermal and ignition delay characteristics of fuel-air,oxygen-enriched and oxy-fuel MILD combustion

The present study investigated the effect of adding hydrogen to methane on the thermal characteristics and ignition delay in methane-air, oxygen-enriched and oxy-fuel MILD combustion. For this purpose, numerical simulation of MILD furnace is performed by k-ε turbulence, modified EDC combustion, and DO radiation models. Additionally, a well stirred reactor (WSR) analysis alongside with CFD simulations is used for getting the better insight of combustion process and numerical results. The results show that H₂ addition to CH₄ provides a more uniform temperature field with higher peak and average temperatures under a similar oxidizer atmosphere. Also, more ignition delay time (IDT) obtained by the replacement of CO₂ with N₂, can be compensated by consideration of H₂ in the fuel composition. This study implies that the use of H₂ as an additive to methane is an effective strategy for conversion of methane-air to oxy-fuel combustion system with almost identical thermal and ignition characteristics.     

Formation and O2/CO2 combustion characteristics of real-environment coal char in high-temperature oxy-fuel conditions

Oxygen-fuel combustion is a promising technology for CO₂ emission reduction. The high-temperature entrained flow reactor and high-temperature drop tube furnace were used to analyses the formation and O₂/CO₂ combustion characteristics of real-environment coal char in high-temperature oxy-fuel conditions. It proposed “inflection point standard” of high-temperature flame method for the preparation of real-environmental oxy-fuel coal char according to the flame method. The results show that the ratios of C=O/C-O and C=O/C_ar increase in the coal char compared with the raw coals. The trend of C=O/C_ar in oxy-fuel condition is opposite to that in the inert atmosphere, due to the effect of high-concentration CO₂. To achieve the burnout rate similar to air combustion for coal char, with the increase of coal rank, the O₂ concentration should be enhanced. The optimal O₂ concentration for the oxy-fuel combustion of JC anthracite is 30%, while that of other low-rank coals could be lower than 30%. The combustion characteristic of JC anthracite is with the highest sensitivity to temperature and O₂ concentration.     

Single particle ignition and combustion of anthracite,semi-anthracite and bituminous coals in air and simulated oxy-fuel conditions

A fundamental investigation has been conducted on the combustion behavior of single particles (75–150 μm) of four coals of different ranks: anthracite, semi-anthracite, medium-volatile bituminous and high-volatile bituminous. A laboratory-scale transparent laminar-flow drop-tube furnace, electrically-heated to 1400 K, was used to burn the coals. The experiments were performed in different combustion atmospheres: air (21%O₂/79%N₂) and four simulated dry oxy-fuel conditions: 21%O₂/79%CO₂, 30%O₂/70%CO₂, 35%O₂/65%CO₂ and 50%O₂/50%CO₂. The ignition and combustion of single particles was observed by means of three-color pyrometry and high-speed high-resolution cinematography to obtain temperature–time histories and record combustion behaviors. On the basis of the observations made with these techniques, a comprehensive examination of the ignition and combustion behaviors of these fuels was achieved. Higher rank coals (anthracite and semi-anthracite) ignited heterogeneously on the particle surface, whereas the bituminous coal particles ignited homogeneously in the gas phase. Moreover, deduced ignition temperatures increased with increasing coal rank and decreased with increasing oxygen concentrations. Strikingly disparate combustion behaviors were observed depending on the coal rank. The combustion of bituminous coal particles took place in two phases. First, volatiles evolved, ignited and burned in luminous enveloping flames. Upon extinction of these flames, the char residues ignited and burned. In contrast, the higher rank coal particles ignited and burned heterogeneously. The replacement of the background N₂ gas of air with CO₂ (i.e., changing from air to an oxy-fuel atmosphere) at the same oxygen mole fraction impaired the intensity of combustion. It reduced the combustion temperatures and lengthened the burnout times of the particles. Increasing the oxygen mole fraction in CO₂ to 30–35% restored the intensity of combustion to that of air for all the coals studied. Volatile flame burnout times increased linearly with the volatile matter content in the coal in both air and all oxygen mole fractions in CO₂. On the other hand, char burnout times increased linearly or quadratically versus carbon content in the coal, depending on the oxygen mole fraction in the background gas.     

Ammonia chemistry in oxy-fuel combustion of methane

The oxidation of NH₃ during oxy-fuel combustion of methane, i.e., at high [CO₂], has been studied in a flow reactor. The experiments covered stoichiometries ranging from fuel rich to very fuel lean and temperatures from 973 to 1773 K. The results have been interpreted in terms of an updated detailed chemical kinetic model. A high CO₂ level enhanced formation of NO under reducing conditions while it inhibited NO under stoichiometric and lean conditions. The detailed chemical kinetic model captured fairly well all the experimental trends. According to the present study, the enhanced CO concentrations and alteration in the amount and partitioning of O/H radicals, rather than direct reactions between N-radicals and CO₂, are responsible for the effect of a high CO₂ concentration on ammonia conversion. When CO₂ is present as a bulk gas, formation of NO is facilitated by the increased OH/H ratio. Besides, the high CO levels enhance HNCO formation through NH₂+CO. However, reactions NH₂+O to form HNO and NH₂+H to form NH are inhibited due to the reduced concentration of O and H radicals. Instead reactions of NH₂ with species from the hydrocarbon/methylamine pool preserve reactive nitrogen as reduced species. These reactions reduce the NH₂ availability to form NO by other pathways like via HNO or NH and increase the probability of forming N₂ instead of NO.     

Unburnt carbon and ashing behavior for slow burning of lignite under oxygen-enriched combustion conditions

Oxygen-enriched combustion of coal has so far been investigated using either entrained flow reactors or fluidized-bed combustors where burning takes place rapidly due to high heating rates. On the contrary, this paper presents the results of slow burning of coal under oxygen-enriched combustion conditions. Ashing behavior of mineral matter-rich low-rank coal from Turkish Tekirdag-Malkara lignite under oxygen-enriched conditions was investigated to determine the effect of this combustion technique on unburnt carbon, mineralogical characteristics and the burning performance. These experiments showed that the influence of O₂ concentration on ashing is much more evident than the temperature during oxygen-enriched combustion.     

Sulfur capture for fluidized-bed combustion of high-sulfur content lignites

Sulfur release and capture behavior of lignites with highly combustible sulfur-contents were investigated by extending a previously-developed comprehensive model to incorporate sulfur retention. The predictive performance of the model was tested by comparing the model predictions with on-line concentration measurements of O₂, CO₂, CO and SO₂. Favorable comparisons are obtained between the predicted and measured concentrations of gaseous species along the combustor. Results show that freeboard sulfur-capture is enhanced significantly with recycling of elutriated sorbent particles as the sulfur release to the freeboard is significant for fuels rich in combustible sulfur.     

Experimental study on ignition and combustion of coal-rice husk blends pellets in air and oxy-fuel conditions

The ignition and combustion characteristics of anthracite-rice husk (AC-RH) and bituminous coal-rice husk (BC-RH) pellets were investigated in a vertical heating tube furnace under different experimental condition, for gas temperature (873 K–1073 K) and under air and different oxygen concentration (21–70%) in CO₂/O₂ atmosphere. The investigation of the ignition and combustion characteristics focused on ignition mechanism, ignition delay, ignition temperature and combustion process. AC-RH pellets had two ignition mechanism in CO2/O2 atmosphere: homogeneous ignition of volatile and heterogeneous ignition of char. Heterogeneous ignition region decreased while homogeneous ignition increased as rice husk blending ratio increased in oxygen concentration-gas temperature plane. Only homogeneous ignition was observed when rice husk blending ratio was 30%. As for BC-RH pellets, only homogeneous ignition occurred in all experimental conditions. The effect of the rice husk blending on the anthracite was more pronounced than the bituminous coal for ignition mechanism. As oxygen concentration increased, a significant reduction in ignition delay and ignition temperature was observed at low rice husk blending ratio and low gas temperature. but at 1073 K, high oxidizer temperature weakened the effect of biomass blending and oxygen concentration on ignition delay and ignition temperature. Meanwhile, at 20% and 30% rice husk blending ratio, it also weakened the effect of oxygen concentration and oxidizer temperature on ignition delay and ignition temperature. In contrast, blending ratio had a more significant effect on ignition behavior. The replacement of N₂ by CO₂ at the same oxygen concentration contributed to an increase in ignition delay time and internal ignition temperature, which suppressed the ignition behavior. Different ignition mechanisms corresponded to different combustion processes.     

Experimental study on oxy-fuel combustion of heavy oil

Oxy-fuel combustion of heavy oil can be applied to oil field steam injection boilers, allowing the utilization of both heavy oil and CO₂ resources. The present study investigated the oxy-fuel combustion characteristics of heavy oil under different conditions, including the flame, temperature, and pollutant emission characteristics. The results showed that heavy oil combustion was stable at O₂ concentrations of 29%, as the O₂ concentration was increased, the flame began to brighten gradually, becoming shorter and thicker, while the temperature gradient became higher and the high temperature zone moved closer to the burner exit. The overall temperature and the combustion rates in O₂/CO₂ atmospheres were below those seen in O₂/N₂ atmospheres. The volume of NO emitted in the flue gas was almost unaffected by the change in O₂ concentrations in atmospheres containing high concentrations of CO₂, but it increased rapidly with increasing O₂ concentration in O₂/N₂ atmospheres.     

The effect of wood biomass blending with pulverized coal on combustion characteristics under oxy-fuel condition

In this study, combustion from the co-firing of coal and wood biomass, and thermal characteristics such as ignition temperature, burn-out temperature, and activation energy were discussed using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). We investigated the effects of biomass blending with two kinds of pulverized coal (bituminous Shenhua, and sub-bituminous Adaro) under air and oxy-fuel conditions. The coal fraction in the blended samples was set to 1, 0.8, and 0.5. The oxygen fraction in the oxidant was set to 0.21, 0.3, 0.5, and 0.8. The ignition temperature was governed by the fuel composition, particularly in the blended biomass which has a much higher content of volatile matter comparing to coal. However, the burnout temperature, which shows a strong relationship with char combustion, depended on the oxidant ingredients rather than on the fuel components. Thermal characteristics such as ignition, burnout temperature, reaction region, and heat flow were very similar between air and a 0.3 oxygen concentration under oxy-fuel conditions with Shenhua coal.     

Thermal analysis and kinetics of coal during oxy-fuel combustion

The pyrolysis and oxy-fuel combustion characteristics of Polish bituminous coal were studied using non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis. Pyrolysis tests showed that the mass loss profiles were almost similar up to 870℃ in both N_2 and CO_2 atmospheres, while further mass loss occurred in CO_2 atmosphere at higher temperatures due to char-CO_2 gasification. Replacement of N_2 in the combustion environment by CO_2 delayed the combustion of bituminous coal. At elevated oxygen levels, TG/DTG profiles shifted through lower temperature zone, ignition and burnout temperatures decreased and mass loss rate significantly increased and complete combustion was achieved at lower temperatures and shorter times. Kinetic analysis for the tested coal was performed using Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose(KAS) method. The activation energies of bituminous coal combustion at the similar oxygen content in oxy-fuel with that of air were higher than that in air atmosphere. The results indicated that, with O_2 concentration increasing, the activation energies decreased.     

Experimental investigation on the kinetics of biomass combustion in vertical tube reactor

The paper presents results of experimental investigation performed in order to examine kinetics of loose biomass combustion in vertical tube reactor. The investigation conducted included continuous measurement of the fuel mass loss rate, with two biomass combustion models (piston and batch model) proposed, each relying on appropriate theoretical postulates. Results obtained indicated that piston combustion model had shown better agreement between theoretical and experimental data and was therefore used to further analyse effects of excess-air on the combustion kinetics, as well as associated effects of flue gas recirculation. Recirculation of cold flue gases is used to lower peak temperature inside the furnace, as well as to reduce a zone where ash melting problems may potentially occur. During the investigation performed, effects of flue gas recirculation on the combustion process were simulated by simultaneously injecting nitrogen and air flows into the furnace. This was deemed appropriate to simulate real-life conditions prevailing in the furnace with gas recirculation. Experiments were conducted on specially designed and constructed apparatus that enabled kinetic parameters to be determined for the combustion of different types of biomass. Results obtained have indicated that quantity of air affects kinetics of biomass combustion and that increased recirculation leads to reduced biomass reaction rate. The same conclusion was reached based on the results of experiments conducted with two different types of agro-biomass, namely wheat straw and corn stalks, which are most commonly used for energy generation. Results achieved are deemed particularly important when it comes to design of new plants that utilize cigarette type combustion system, but also for development of numerical models used to simulate combustion of biomass bales, with special emphasis placed on the impact of recirculation gases on the combustion kinetics.     

Conversions of fuel-N to NO and N2O during devolatilization and char combustion stages of a single coal particle under oxy-fuel fluidized bed conditions

The conversions of fuel-N to NO and N₂O during devolatilization and char combustion stages of a single coal particle of 7 mm in diameter were investigated in a laboratory-scale flow tube reactor under oxy-fuel fluidized bed (FB) conditions. The method of isothermal thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) combing with the coal properties was proposed to distinguish the devolatilization and char combustion stages of coal combustion. The results show that the char combustion stage plays a dominant role in NO and N₂O emissions in oxy-fuel FB combustion. Temperature changes the trade-off between NO and N₂O during the two stages. With increasing temperature, the conversion ratios of fuel-N to NO during the two stages increase, and the opposite tendencies are observed for N₂O. CO₂ inhibits the fuel-N conversions to NO during the two stages but promotes those to N₂O. Compared with air combustion, the conversion ratios of fuel-N to NO during the two stages are lower in 21%O₂/79%CO₂, and those to N₂O are higher. At <O₂> = 21–50% by volume, the conversion ratios of fuel-N to NO during the two stages reach the maximum values at <O₂> = 30% by volume, and those to N₂O decrease with increasing O₂ concentration. H₂O suppresses the fuel-N conversions to NO and N₂O during the two stages. A higher coal rank has higher total conversion ratios of fuel-N to NO and N₂O. Fuel-N, volatile matter, and fixed carbon contents are the important factors on fuel-N conversions to NO and N₂O during the two stages. The results benefit the understanding of NO and N₂O emission mechanisms during oxy-fuel FB combustion of coal.     

Environmental analysis of bio-CCS in an integrated oxy-fuel combustion power plant with CO2 transport and storage

Oxy-fuel combustion (OFC) belongs to one of the three commonly known clean coal technologies for which practical application may be in the offing. Similarly to conventional power plants, there is a possibility of biomass co-firing, thus an additional reduction of CO₂ emission is possible. Including the biomass in the fuel mixture of an integrated OFC power plant allows to obtain the so called “neutral” CO₂ status as biomass combustion does not contribute to anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. In OFC power plants without biomass co-firing, even if 100% of CO₂ is captured, there are still additional CO₂ emissions in processes like fossil fuel extraction, transportation and preparation. The same assumption applies also to biomass and other materials (e.g. limestone or raw water). A higher share of biomass in the fuel mixture can lead to “negative” CO₂ emissions with may be helpful to compensate the unfulfilled goals in other sectors where reduction is required. The paper presents the system approach to the environmental analysis based on the “input–output” method and both the index of the thermoecological cost and cumulative CO₂ emissions. Thermoecological cost includes, the cumulative exergy consumption of non-renewable energy sources and additional exergy consumption due to harmful emissions to the atmosphere. In order to investigate the impact of bio-CCS (both biomass co-firing and dedicated biomass boilers) on the net thermoecological cost of electricity production and cumulative CO₂ emissions five cases have been analyzed.     

Combustion kinetics of coal chars in oxygen-enriched environments

Oxygen-enhanced and oxygen-fired pulverized coal combustion is actively being investigated to achieve emission reductions and reductions in flue gas cleanup costs, as well as for coal-bed methane and enhanced oil recovery applications. To fully understand the results of pilot scale tests and to accurately predict scale-up performance through CFD modeling, accurate rate expressions are needed to describe coal char combustion under these unconventional combustion conditions. In the work reported here, the combustion rates of two pulverized coal chars have been measured in both conventional and oxygen-enriched atmospheres. A combustion-driven entrained flow reactor equipped with an optical particle-sizing pyrometry diagnostic and a rapid-quench sampling probe has been used for this investigation. Highvale subbituminous coal and a high-volatile eastern United States bituminous coal have been investigated, over oxygen concentrations ranging from 6 to 36 mol% and gas temperatures of 1320-1800 K. The results from these experiments demonstrate that pulverized coal char particles burn under increasing kinetic control in elevated oxygen environments, despite their higher burning rates in these environments. Empirical fits to the data have been successfully performed over the entire range of oxygen concentrations using a single-film oxidation model. Both a simple nth-order Arrhenius expression and an nth-order Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic equation provide good fits to the data. Local fits of the nth-order Arrhenius expression to the oxygen-enriched and oxygen-depleted data produce lower residuals in comparison to fits of the entire dataset. These fits demonstrate that the apparent reaction order varies from 0.1 under near-diffusion-limit oxygen-depleted conditions to 0.5 under oxygen-enriched conditions. Burnout predictions show good agreement with measurements. Predicted char particle temperatures tend to be low for combustion in oxygen-depleted environments.     

Pyrolysis characteristics of Turkish lignites in N2 and CO2 environments

Pyrolysis characteristics and kinetic parameters of two Turkish lignites having different ash contents (Orhaneli as low ash and Soma as high ash sample) were studied under N₂ and CO₂ atmospheres by means of thermogravimetric analysis. The isoconversional kinetic methods of Flynn?Wall??Ozawa, Kissinger??Akahira??Sunose, and Friedman were employed to estimate the activation energy and pre-exponential factors. The experiments were conducted at four different heating rates of 5, 10, 15, and 20°C/min within the temperature range of 50??950ºC. The obtained results indicated that changing the pyrolysis ambient had no significant effect on the devolatilization region up to 700°C. The char formation region in N₂ atmosphere was due to the CaCO₃ decomposition and was more significant for Soma lignite due to its high ash content. However, in CO₂ atmosphere, the gasification reaction took place at temperatures higher than 700°C. The decomposition process of CaCO₃ in CO₂ atmosphere was hampered up to temperatures higher than 900°C. The estimated activation energies were found to have approximately similar trends under different atmospheres. For Orhaneli lignite, the average activation energy values were higher in CO₂ environment. However, for Soma lignite due to decomposition of CaCO₃, the activation energy values were higher in N₂ atmosphere. The mean uncertainty values were assessed for the activation energy values obtained for all test cases.