BEIJING, April 27 -- After five years of efforts to promote an energy-saving invention in East China's Anhui Province, Na Xuefang seems close to realizing his dream.

He has found a big client in neighbouring Jiangsu Province for his powder, an additive to coal that helps it burn more efficiently. Na needs his product to be a success because by the end of last year, all the money he put into the project was spent.

Na had to give up his office in Hefei, Anhui's capital, and move into a small room in a suburb for a rent of 100 yuan (US$12.5) per month, where he continued to promote his invention.

"I hope the newly-released long-term scientific plan, which prioritizes energy-saving technology, will serve as a turning point for my invention," Na said.

A nationwide call to turn China into a resource-saving country has sparked the zeal to make energy-saving technological advances.

But some environmental experts say that innovations alone are not enough and that the government needs to set the proper foundation to take advantage of them through establishing the right laws and policies.

In the National Guideline on the Medium- and Long-Term Programme for Science and Technology Development (2006-20), issued by the State Council in February, developing energy-saving technology is a high priority.

In his report to the National People's Congress last month, Premier Wen Jiabao called on the nation to cut energy use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 per cent by 2010 from the 2005 level.

China's high consumption of energy has raised widespread concern. According to a national guideline released in 2004 by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's energy consumption was 3.1 times the world's average per unit of GDP in 2002.

To reach the energy-saving goal, policies are being drafted, including establishing an index to evaluate how local governments have cut energy consumption in relation to GDP growth.

The policy to encourage energy saving promotes researchers seeking new approaches.

Ceaseless efforts

Na was one of them.

Since 1991, Na, who was trained in chemistry, has been engaged in developing a way to make coal burn more efficiently.

"I often saw after burning that much unburnt coal was left. This was a great waste," Na said.

"In coal mining areas of Henan Province, people pour salt onto high-sulphur coal to make it burn more fully. That caused me to think about finding other chemical additives."

In nine years of experiments, Na found that some chemicals would lower the temperature for coal to start burning, and that others produce oxygen in the stove. The two chemicals, when combined, resulted in more efficient burning. He also mixed some chemicals into his additive to dissolve sulphur dioxide, a major pollutant from high-sulphur coal.

In the late 1990s, Na eventually succeeded in making the additive. According to Tang Hanyong, deputy director of the government-backed Anhui Technological Promotion Centre, Na's powder can make coal burn up to 20 per cent more efficiently and reduce the emission of sulphur dioxide, sulphur trioxide and carbon monoxide. It obtained an invention patent from the State Intellectual Property Office in 2000.

"Considering the price of the additive, coal users will still save at least 12 per cent on their coal costs," Na said.

However, he used up much of his money and could not get his invention into production. "Many investors are interested in my project, but all of them set conditions unacceptable to me," Na said.

Returning to his hometown, Wuwei County in Anhui, in late 2000, Na hoped his product could win the favour of power stations and other major coal users in his hometown.

But not one company in Anhui has committed to use Na's powder so far.

"Once Na had earned some money, he spent it to have samples of his powder made and then took it to electricity generation factories or major coal users for a demonstration," Tang said.

"Each time the expected effect was achieved, but still no one would use it."

Na said the next step should be taken by the government. "Although State policy has stressed energy-saving, no punitive taxes have been waived to encourage people to truly reduce energy use," he said.

"For private entrepreneurs, it makes sense even if the powder can reduce just 5 per cent of their costs." ...

Abstract --- The coal-saving powder is produced by mixing smoke suppressor, desulfurizing agetn, comburant agent, aerating agent, activator and puffing agent according to a certain proportion, and contains tween-60, ferric oxide, magnesia, manganese carbonate, calcium oxide, sodium chloride, potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, potassium permanganate, dodecyl sodium bensosulfonate, sodium exametaphosphate, trisodium phosphate and vermiculite. When used, it is added into coal and can make coal combust completely and reduce CO, sulfide and oxide pollution to atmosphere.

The present invention belongs to the technical field of inorganic chemistry, and specifically relates to a coal-burning additive, namely, coal-saving powder, which is a mixture of various inorganic chemical raw materials.

During the combustion process of coal, a large amount of energy is wasted due to its chemical incomplete combustion and physical incomplete combustion. People have made unremitting efforts to this end.

Existing technologies mainly focus on using physical methods to promote complete combustion, such as improving combustion equipment, improving combustion methods, and making coal into powder or briquettes, which have achieved encouraging results. However, in many cases, the incomplete combustion is still at a level of about 20%. Modern water-coal slurry technology integrates physical and chemical methods and has made breakthrough progress, but its process is complicated and it is still difficult to promote it on a large scale.

The purpose of the present invention is to make up for the deficiencies of the prior art and to provide a coal-burning additive - coal-saving powder, which can not only improve the combustion efficiency of coal, but also is simple to manufacture, convenient to use and suitable for popularization and application.

The object of the present invention is achieved in this way: a kind of coal-saving powder is prepared by mixing the following auxiliary agents according to the weight percentage of 100% and stirring them evenly: smoke suppressant (1) 10-20%, desulfurizer (2) 0-20%, combustion improver (3) 20-40%, oxidizer (4) 10-1.5%, activator (5) 10-20%, and leavening agent (6) 0-10%, wherein: A, the smoke suppressant (1) comprises Tween 60, iron oxide, or a mixture thereof; B, the desulfurizer (2) comprises manganese carbonate, calcium oxide, or a mixture thereof; C, the combustion improver (3) comprises potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium chloride, or a mixture thereof; D, the oxygenator (4) comprises potassium permanganate; E, the activator (5) comprises sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, sodium hexametaphosphate, trisodium phosphate, or a mixture thereof; F. The material composition of the leavening agent (6) is: magnesium oxide, sodium chloride, vermiculite, or a mixture thereof.

Meanwhile, the weight percentage of the desulfurizer (2) added therein can be accurately determined in the range of 0-20% according to the sulfur content in the coal. When the sulfur content in the coal is 0, the weight percentage of the desulfurizer (2) is 0%.

There is also a leavening agent (6), which is added in an amount of 0% by weight when the coal used is non-civilian briquette coal. When using, just mix this section of coal powder with the burning coal thoroughly and it can be burned.

The use of this section of pulverized coal will achieve the following effects:

1. The addition of smoke suppressants and desulfurizers can not only reduce the chemical incomplete combustion of coal, but also reduce the pollution of carbon monoxide and sulfur oxides to the atmosphere.

2. The addition of combustion aids and oxygen enhancers can simultaneously reduce the physical and chemical incomplete combustion of coal and promote the oxidation reaction of coal

3. The addition of activators and leavening agents can reduce the physical incomplete combustion of coal.

4. The manufacturing process is simple, the raw materials are easy to purchase, it is easy to use and easy to promote and apply.

The present invention will be further described below:

During the combustion process of coal, the most important chemical incomplete combustion is the reaction of carbon with oxygen to produce carbon monoxide. Tween 60 and iron oxide in the smoke suppressant are both oxidants. Under high temperature conditions, they can use carbon monoxide as a reducing agent to undergo redox reactions, causing carbon monoxide to react into carbon dioxide, thereby reducing the carbon monoxide content in the flue gas.

The sulfur contained in coal will form sulfur dioxide or sulfur trioxide during the combustion process. After being discharged into the atmosphere, they are the main chemicals that produce acid rain. The manganese carbonate and calcium oxide in the desulfurizer can react chemically with sulfur under high temperature conditions, causing the sulfur to form sulfur salts, sulfites or sulfates and enter the coal ash, rather than forming gaseous sulfur oxides that are discharged into the atmosphere with the flue gas.

There are many types of coal in my country. In actual application, the amount of desulfurizer added should be accurately calculated and determined based on the actual sulfur content in the coal. If the amount of desulfurizer added is too little, the sulfur cannot be completely removed, and if too much is added, it will affect the normal combustion of the coal.

When the sulfur content in the coal is 0, the amount of desulfurizer added is 0%.

The addition of combustion aids is to promote the oxidation of coal. Potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate are strong flammable oxidants. Sodium chloride itself is non-flammable, but its crystals have high-temperature explosive properties. Its explosion will cause local disturbances in the coal particles in the combustion bed, thereby promoting the movement and combustion of the coal particles.

The oxygenator potassium permanganate itself is a strong oxidant. When it is heated, it decomposes to produce free oxygen. Free oxygen has strong oxidizing properties and activity, and can quickly promote the exothermic oxidation reaction of coal.

The addition of surfactants is to increase the surface activity of various substances in the coal combustion process and promote the chemical reaction between them. Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, sodium hexametaphosphate and trisodium phosphate are all mature surfactants.

Leavening agents are only used in civilian coal briquettes, because civilian coal briquettes contain clay or lime as a binder and are relatively dense, which has a certain adverse effect on combustion. The crystals of magnesium oxide and sodium chloride in the leavening agent will burst under high temperature conditions, causing local voids in the coal mold. Vermiculite contains crystalline water, which will expand under high temperature conditions, also causing local voids and looseness in the coal mold, thereby promoting the combustion of the coal mold by physical methods. There is no need to add leavening agents to non-civilian briquettes because they are in a loose state themselves.

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