Abstract:In order to clarify the development laws of surface drying shrinkage caused by the low temperature drying (below 50 ℃) of lignite,the low temperature drying and drying shrinkage experiments were carried out by using the air drying with low temperature (20~30 ℃) and low relative humidity (40%~60%) to analyze the drying and surface shrinkage laws.The results showed that in the process of low temperature drying,the relative humidity,rather than temperature,was the significant influencing factor on the water evaporation rate.70% to 90% of the total moisture loss evaporated within the initial 48 hours of drying,and the average moisture content dropped to 12.8%.The low temperature drying engendered the non-uniform surface drying shrinkage of lignite,and the surface drying shrinkage went through three stages of thermal expansion,rapid drying shrinkage and stable shrinkage.In the initial 48 hours with rapid evaporation and loss of water,the drying shrinkage rate was low,and after that,the evaporation rate of water decreased significantly and the drying shrinkage rate increased continually,and the significant drying shrinkage occurred in the low-speed evaporation stage with the final stable shrinkage.There was a significant positive correlation between the surface drying shrinkage rate and the lost water quality,and a significant negative correlation between the surface drying shrinkage and the water content and evaporation rate.