Attapulgite suspension mitigates fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) emission from coal combustion in fluidized bed

To reduce fine particulate matter emission from coal burning sources especially fossil fuel fired energy generation facility is critical to improve air quality. Attapulgite suspension was attempted to spray in a 6 kW fluidized bed facility and reduce fine particulate matter emission during coal combustion. The key parameters such as attapulgite mass, flowrate and spraying zone were investigated to determine the optimal and critical conditions that influence fine particulate matter emission. Exciting results indicate that both fine particle number and mass concentrations are largely decreased due to the physical/chemical absorption with the suitable mass ratio of 3 wt%. The spray of attapulgite suspension in both dense bed and dilute bed effectively mitigates fine particle emission based on the agglomeration and absorption. The most excellent result is achieved at a flowrate of 38 ml/min in dense bed with particle number reduction up to 93.5% in PM_2.5 (fine particles is equal to/less than 2.5 μm), 93.6% in PM_1.0 (fine particles is equal to/less than 1.0 μm) and 93.7% in PM_0.1 (fine particles is equal to/less than 0.1 μm), respectively. The work highlights the potential of spraying attapulgite suspension as an effective process to reduce fine particle emission during coal combustion in fluidized bed system.