Catalytic Effects on Combustion Behavior of Oil Shale: Thermal Conversion, Kinetic, Mechanism Analyses

In order to solve the problem of traditional energy combustion and to achieve the comprehensive use of oil shale. This work investigated the impact of potassium-containing catalysts on the combustion reactivity of Beipiao oil shale through TG, FTIR, and SEM analysis. Results showed that the catalyst of different proportions reduced the oil shale ignition temperature by 9.34–17.67°C and burnout temperature by 9–51.67°C, optimal catalyst addition (5%) exhibited the most effective catalytic effect. The catalyst effect was affected by heating rates, the lower the heating rate, the more favorable the oil shale combustion. In addition, the hydroxyl and ether oxygen groups of combustion residue increased with catalyst, the absorption peak intensity of carbonate reduced. Suggesting that the catalyst promoted the decarbonization cracking of oil shale, thereby accelerating the release of volatiles and the decomposition of inorganic mineral carbonate. Finally, activation energy was calculated using the Friedman and FWO methods. The results obtained from both kinetic methods were highly consistent, obviously reductions in activation energy under catalytic action.