LAUSR

Abstract Coal-water fuel is a promising substitution of conventional fossil fuels for the countries, where clean energy sources like wind, solar, etc. cannot cover energy demand. However, this fuel has a lot of specifics for preparation, transportation, and combustion. Issues with coal-water fuel combustion can be solved with the use of fuel activation. The catalytic activation of the coal-water fuel produced from coal of different metamorphic stages with the help of titanium dioxide nanoparticles was experimentally studied. The research suggests that the addition of the titanium dioxide nanoparticles in 0.5–4% wt. increases the coal-water fuel thermal conductivity by 9–17% while the value of heat capacity decreases by 12–23%. Also, this addition decreases time delay before fuel ignition by 20–22% and a total time of the fuel droplet burning by 15%; increases maximum temperature of the volatiles combustion by 8–10%; and increases combustion completeness as well. For the first time, the optimal value of the nanoparticles additive content has been found.