Effects of fractal surface on rheological behavior and combustion kinetics of modified brown coal water slurries

The paper reports the effects of surface fractal structures on the rheological behavior and combustion kinetics of raw brown coal and three modified coal water slurries (CWSs). The results show that the fractal structures and physicochemical properties of samples are dependent on various modification processes. The apparent viscosities of the coal water slurries increase with increasing surface fractal dimensions (D), especially with decreasing shear rates. Furthermore, it has been proved that the ignition temperatures and apparent activation energies of modified CWSs are lower than that of raw coal water slurry. Compared with the traditional qualitative analysis of the effect of pore structures on CWSs properties, D can more efficiently indicate the quantificational effect of pore structures on the rheological behavior and combustion kinetics of CWSs.