Study of Electrochemical Catalytic Coal Gasification: Gasification Characteristics and Char Structure Evolution

Electrochemical catalytic coal gasification experiments with Fuxin (FX) coal under a CO₂ atmosphere were conducted to evaluate the effects of power and temperature on coal gasification and char structure evolution during electrochemical catalytic gasification (ECG). When the power was 400 W, with temperature increasing from 800 to 1000 °C, the CO content in the gas products increased by 8.16%, the H₂ content increased by 8.39%, and the CH₄ concentration in the gas products initially increased and then decreased. When the temperature is 900 °C, with power increasing from 0 to 400 W, the CO content in the gas products increased by 58.27%, the H₂ content increased by 81.33%, and the CH₄ concentration in the gas products increased from 1.31 to 2.37%. The gasification reactivity and the concentration of combustible gas generated during ECG were higher than those during common coal gasification. Thermal electrons play important roles in ECG. These electrons could promote ring opening reactions and aromatic compound cracking and inhibit aromatization reactions while increasing the number of oxygen-containing functional groups in char, consequently enhancing the char gasification reactivity.