To investigate the effect of preoxidation on the secondary
spontaneous
combustion of coal, the changes in the key groups and thermal characteristic
parameters in coal after preoxidation were investigated through Fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), laser thermal conductivity,
and thermogravimetric experiments. Results showed that the aromatic
hydrocarbons in coal gradually decrease with the rise in the preoxidation
temperature, the aliphatic hydrocarbons increase and then decrease,
the −C–O– group gradually decreases, and the
−CO
and −COO– group content slowly increases. Preoxidation
promotes the breakdown of aromatic hydrocarbons and the oxidation
of oxygen-containing functional groups in coal. Meanwhile, the thermal
diffusivity of coal decreases after preoxidation, while the specific
heat capacity and thermal conductivity increase and then decrease.
The results of the thermogravimetric analysis indicate that preoxidation
changes the characteristic temperature, but it does not change the
process of spontaneous combustion. The spontaneous combustion process
of raw and preoxidized coals can be divided into three stages: water
evaporation, oxygen adsorption, and combustion. Further, the apparent
activation energy increases and then decreases with a rise in the
preoxidation temperature during the moisture evaporation stage, increases
during the oxygen adsorption stage, and decreases during the combustion
stage.