Combustion of coal was studied in a drop tube furnace to understand particulate matter (PM
10) emissionand its characteristics. Experimental conditions were selected as follows: The coal particle size was dividedinto three sizes, 100-200
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m, 63-100
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m, and smaller than 63
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m. The reaction temperature was 1423,1523, and 1673 K, respectively. The oxygen content was 20% and 50%, respectively. PM
10 was collectedwith a 13 stage low-pressure impactor (LPI) having an aerodynamic cutoff diameter ranging from 10.0 to0.03
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m for a size-segregated collection. The properties of the PM including its concentration, particle sizedistribution, and elemental composition were investigated. The experimental results indicate that the emittedPM
10 has a bimodal distribution with two peaks around 4.0 and 0.1
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m
. The reaction temperature, coal particlesize, and oxygen content affect PM
10 emission significantly. Increasing the temperature and oxygen contentand decreasing the coal particle size lead to the formation of more PM
10, respectively. Distributions of individualelements within PM
10 are different. The majority of Si, Al, and Fe exist in PM
1-10. Na, K, and Ca have abimodal distribution. S and P have a single mode distribution, which are prevalent in PM
1. With considerationof experiment results and thermodynamic calculation, the chemical species within PM
1 are rich in sulfates;meanwhile, the chemical species within PM
1-10 are mainly aluminosilicate and quartz. The elementalcompositions are greatly affected by increasing the oxygen content from 20% to 50%. Between PM
1 andPM
1-10, a varied oxygen content has more influence on PM
1 than PM
1-10. For PM
1, elemental sulfur is greatlydecreased with the increase of oxygen content. In contrast, elemental iron, silicon, and aluminum are greatlyincreased, the extent of elemental silicon increased being the most. However, the change of oxygen has nosignificant effect on the elemental mass content of PM
1-10.