Study on co‐pyrolysis performance of bituminous coal, pine wood, and polystyrene based on a new evaluation system

Abstract Investigating the co‐pyrolysis of coal–biomass, coal–plastic, and biomass–plastic systems is critical for enhancing energy efficiency. However, relatively few investigations have been carried out on the co‐pyrolysis of bituminous coal (C), pine wood (W), and polystyrene (P) in combination. This study investigated the pyrolysis characteristics of these three materials at 19 different mixing ratios via thermogravimetric analysis. Kinetic parameters of single‐step reactions were calculated using both conventional methods and the Shuffled Complex Evolution algorithm. Finally, a pyrolysis performance evaluation system considering multiple parameters was established based on the entropy method, so as to determine the optimal mixing ratio with the highest pyrolysis performance. The results showed that the mass loss of all mixtures fell between those of C and W/P. For binary mixtures, when the P: W ratio was 1:2, the activation energy ( E ) was the lowest (81.75 kJ/mol). In the ternary mixed system, the mixture with a ratio of W to C to P of 1:2:2 exhibited the lowest E value of 76.44 kJ/mol, indicating that this ratio exerted a synergistic effect on the co‐pyrolysis process. The entropy calculation results showed that the optimal mixing ratios among the 19 groups were P to W of 2:1 (0.0319) and W to C to P of 1:2:2 (0.0322). This study proposes a new method for evaluating pyrolysis performance, which can provide a reference for similar pyrolysis evaluation studies in the future.