Ash deposition and sodium migration behaviors during combustion of Zhundong coals in a drop tube furnace

Zhundong coalfield is one super-large coalfield recently discovered in China. However, the utilization of Zhundong coal in power plants has caused serious ash-related issues mainly due to its high-sodium feature. The ash deposition problem on convection heat exchanger surfaces is still particularly difficult to resolve and its mechanism has yet to be fully understood. This study deals with the ash deposition and alkali metal migration behaviors on convection heat exchanger surfaces between 400 and 800 °C during combustion of Zhundong coal using a lab-scale drop tube reactor. Experimental results show that the sodium content in ash deposit of Zhundong coals increases obviously as the deposition temperature decreases from 800 to 600 °C, while it is almost unchanged below 600 °C. The contents of iron and calcium in ash deposits exhibit nonmonotonic variations as the deposit probe temperature varies between 400 and 800 °C. Quartz and calcium sulfate are main crystalline phases in ash deposit of Zhundong coals. Calcium is inclined to present as calcite and lime at low deposition temperature, while high temperature facilitates calcium sulfation. Sodium of crystalline phase is found as albite and sodium sulfate at low deposition temperature. Both condensation of gaseous alkali metals and formation of low-melting minerals were responsible for the ash deposition phenomenon on convection heat exchanger surfaces involved in combustion of Zhundong coal. The sodium content in ash deposit decreases considerably with the increasing combustion temperature while the case of iron variation is opposite due to its low-volatility. In addition, the Na content in ash deposits increases obviously with the access air ratio reduced from 1.2 to 1.05, but the local weakly reducing atmosphere leads to less iron within ash deposits. Clarification of sodium migration and evaluation of ash deposition behaviors during combustion of Zhundong coal is helpful for a better exploration of the functional mechanism of ash deposit and then large-scale utilization of high-sodium coals.     

A novel method used to study growth of ash deposition and in situ measurement of effective thermal conductivity of ash deposit

Ash deposition always brings boilers some trouble due to fouling or slagging. In this paper, a completely controlled system was developed to study the growth of ash deposit. A novel sampling probe was designed to online measure the heat flux through ash deposit. Additionally, the thickness of ash deposit can be obtained by an online figure collecting system. The results of this research showed that as the thickness of ash deposit increased, the heat flux decreased. It was also found that at the initial stage of ash deposition when the thickness of ash deposit is approximately 1 mm, the heat flux through ash deposit had a sharp reduction. An effective method was attempted to situ measure the effective thermal conductivity of the ash deposit in the simulated combustion flue gas. It was found that temperature of the ash deposit layer had no obvious effect on its value. It was concluded that the structure of ash deposit had no obvious change in a short deposition time of 30 min with varied surface temperatures of the probe head between 400 °C and 600 °C.     

Exhaust Gas Recirculation Cooler Fouling in Diesel Applications: Fundamental Studies of Deposit Properties and Microstructure

This article reports on the results of experimental efforts aimed at improving the understanding of the mechanisms and conditions at play in the fouling of exhaust gas recirculation coolers. An experimental apparatus was constructed to utilize simplified surrogate heat exchanger tubes in lieu of full-size heat exchangers. The use of these surrogate tubes allowed removal of the tubes after exposure to engine exhaust for study of the deposit layer and its properties. The exhaust used for fouling the surrogate tubes was produced using a modern medium-duty diesel engine fueled with both ultra-low-sulfur diesel and biodiesel blends. At long exposure times, no significant difference in the fouling rate was observed between fuel types and hydrocarbons levels. Surface coatings for the tubes were also evaluated to determine their impact on deposit growth. No surface treatment or coating produced a reduction in the fouling rate or any evidence of deposit removal. In addition, microstructural analysis of the fouling layers was performed using optical and electron microscopy in order to better understand the deposition mechanism. The experimental results are consistent with thermophoretic deposition for deposit formation, and van der Waals attraction between the deposit surface and exhaust-borne particulate.     

Computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy of minerals in coal-Implications for ash deposition

The nature of mineral matter in coal determines its transformation into ash during combustion and the nature of resulting ash (e.g. chemical composition and particle size distribution), and subsequently influences the ash deposition behaviour. The behaviour of mineral matter is primarily influenced by two parameters: the mineral grain size, and whether the mineral grains are within the coal matrix or not. Computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy (CCSEM) of coal provides such information on mineral matter in coal. CCSEM data are, therefore, processed to predict the fouling and slagging characteristics of several coals. The fraction of basic oxides in each mineral grain may be considered as an indicator of stickiness of the corresponding ash particle due to formation of low melting compounds. The cumulative mass fraction of mineral grains with certain basic oxides or viscosity of resulting ash particles from included and excluded minerals are proposed as alternative indices for ash deposition.

The excluded mineral matter is in equilibrium with the combustion flue gases at the gas temperatures, whereas the included minerals are in equilibrium with the atmosphere within char at the burning char particle temperature. It is predicted from thermodynamic calculations based on this understanding that almost all the evaporation is either from the included mineral matter or from the atomically dispersed minerals in coal. This is due to the high temperature and reducing atmosphere inside the char particle. The release of the evaporated species is controlled by diffusion through the burning char particle and, therefore, may be estimated theoretically. The amount of mineral matter that is vaporized may then be related to fouling, whereas the melt phase present on the surface of large ash particles may be related to slagging. The theoretical speculations on the physical character of ash derived from these indices are compared with the experimental data obtained from combustion of coals in a drop-tube furnace.     

A study of techniques for reducing ash deposition in coal-fired gas turbines

Direct coal-fired gas turbines are potentially attractive alternatives to conventional steam cycle electric power generation because of their higher efficiencies. However, the high mineral matter content of coal creates problems with deposition, erosion, and corrosion of turbine components. Reported here is a study of methods to reduce the rate of formation of ash deposits, including a study of the effects of the addition of potential sulfur sorbents on downstream deposition problems. Methods studied involved modifying the combustion history of the coal particles in the combustor, cooling turbine components, and adding small amounts of aluminosilicate to the coal. The results show that the proper combination of these techniques can produce a two orders of magnitude reduction in the rate of ash deposit formation.     

Effect of Condensable Species on Particulate Fouling

The flue gases emanating from the combustion of fuels or gasification process invariably comprise particulate matter and many chemical species in vapor form. The temperature of the flue gases gradually reduces when passing through different sections of heat exchanger, such as the superheater, evaporator, and so on. If the temperatures of the heat exchanger tube surface and the gas phase are favorable for condensation, the chemical species in the vapor form will condense on the particles and on the tube surface. The particle deposition behavior under these conditions is drastically different from the one observed in dry particulate fouling. In order to model the particle deposition under such circumstances, it is important to evaluate the criteria for particle adhesion to the surface. Impaction experiments of particles impacting a surface coated with a thin liquid film and particles that are coated with a liquid film impacting over a dry surface are performed to evaluate the limiting parameters under which a particle sticks to the surface without rebounding. The effects of liquid viscosity, liquid film thickness, and interacting material properties are evaluated. The experimental results are compared to the results of existing models and a suitable model for fouling is proposed. Controlled fouling experiments are performed for varying liquid films coated over a deposition tube under various process conditions to mimic the condensation effects on fouling. The results are compared with detailed impaction experiments.     

Study on oil fouling in a double pipe heat exchanger with mitigation by a surfactant

Fouling of oils on heat exchanger surfaces and pipelines is a common problem in a variety of industrial applications. This is because the oil deposits on the heat transfer surface causes an increase in pressure drop and a decrease in heat exchanger efficiency. In the current work, oil fouling in double pipe heat exchanger was investigated and mitigated using a surface‐active agent for the flow of a dispersion fluid containing different dispersed oil fractions in water. The effect of the dispersed oil fraction (5%vol and 10%vol) and temperature (35°C‐55°C) on the oil fouling rate was studied and discussed under turbulent flow conditions for both hot and cold fluids. Different amounts of alkylbenzene sulfonate as a surfactant were added to reduce the fouling rate under turbulent flow. It was found that the fouling thermal resistance (R_f) increases when the fluid temperature decreases. The higher the dispersed oil fraction, the higher the R_f for all temperatures due to higher oil deposition. Addition of 0.2%vol to 0.5%vol of alkylbenzene sulfonate caused an appreciable reduction in R_f depending on oil fraction and Reynolds number. The mitigation percent was higher for a lower Reynolds number, reaching up to 96%.     

Simulation of ash deposition in different furnace temperature with a 2D dynamic mesh model

Ash deposit on the heat exchangers reduces the heat transfer efficiency and even threatens the operation of the equipment. The tool of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) allows for better understanding of the deposit formation and the prediction of the process. This paper presents an improved CFD model to reproduce the growth of ash deposition on a temperature-controlled probe in a pilot-scale furnace with the commercial software Fluent16.0. Dynamic mesh technique is included to investigate the shape variation of the ash deposit during the deposit growth. The model is improved by taking the changing surface temperature of the deposition into consideration. The deposition efficiency, surface temperature and heat flux through the deposit are monitored as the iteration. Three cases are presented to investigate the influence of furnace temperature (1473 K, 1523 K and 1573 K). The results show that the deposition efficiency increases with the increasing surface temperature of the deposit while the mass flow of impaction decreases with the changing flow field. The growth rates of the deposit for the three cases are 0.064, 0.079 and 0.103 mm/min within the simulation time which is consistent with experiment results. The simulated surface temperature shows the same trend of the experimental values. The heat flux in the simulation decreases with a range of 38.2%, 50.3% and 50% for the three cases, respectively. This method of modelling can be used to predict the growth of deposit accurately.     

Numerical analysis of heat transfer and flow field around cross-flow heat exchanger tube with fouling

Fouling is one of the main problems of heat transfer which can be described as the accumulation on the heat exchanger tubes, i.e.; ash deposits on the heat exchanger unit of the boiler. A decrease in heat transfer rate by this deposition causes loss in system efficiency and leads to increasing in operating and maintenance costs. This problem concerns with the coupling among conduction heat transfer mode between solid of different types, conjugate heat transfer at the interface of solid and fluid, and the conduction/convection heat transfer mode in the fluid which can not be solved analytically. In this paper, fouling effect on heat transfer around a cylinder in cross flow has been studied numerically by using conjugate heat transfer approach. Unlike other numerical techniques in existing literatures, an unstructured control volume finite element method (CVFEM) has been developed in this present work. The study deals with laminar flow where the Reynolds number is limited in the range that the flow field over the cylinder is laminar and steady. We concern the fouling shape as an eccentric annulus with constant thermal properties. The local heat transfer coefficient, temperature distribution and mean heat transfer coefficient along the fouling surface are given for concentric and eccentric cases. From the results, we have found that the heat transfer rate of cross-flow heat exchanger depends on the eccentricity and thermal conductivity ratio between the fouling material and fluid. The effect of eccentric is dominant in the region near the front stagnation point due to high temperature and velocity gradients. The mean Nusselt number varies in asymptotic fashion with the thermal conductivity ratio. Fluid Prandtl number has a prominent effect on the distribution of local Nusselt number and the temperature along the fouling surface.     

Ash deposition behaviors during combustion of raw and water washed biomass fuels

Biomass-fired boilers have the tendency to suffer from severe problems of fouling and slagging due to the high potassium content of biomass fuel. The troublesome potassium, however, can be removed efficiently by water washing pretreatment. In this study, the ash deposition behaviors during combustion of raw and water washed biomass fuels were investigated by a one-dimensional furnace and a deposition probe. Two biomass fuels (corn stalk and wheat straw) were used, and deposition mass, deposition efficiency, composition and morphology of the deposit were studied. The ash deposition while firing raw biomass exhibits a “fast?slow?fast?slow” trend with the sampling time. After water washing, the deposition mass decreases dramatically, and the deposition efficiency reduces gradually as the sampling time increases. The analyses of elemental composition, morphology and chemical composition on the deposit from raw biomass imply that the condensation/thermophoresis is quite significant in the earlier deposition stage, whereas the chemical reaction is remarkable in the later stage. After water washing, the potassium content of the deposit decreases significantly. Morphology and chemical composition analyses indicate that the deposit from water washed biomass ascribes to the physical accumulation of non-viscous fly ash particles. The deposition mass can easily approach a maximum value. The ash fusion temperatures of deposits increase remarkably after water washing. In addition, ash deposition mechanisms during biomass combustion are discussed.     

Ash deposition behavior under coal and wood co-firing conditions in a 300 kW downfired furnace

Growth of ash deposits when wood was co-fired with coal was visually investigated in a 300 kW pilot-scale furnace. For comparison, combustion of pure coal was also conducted. A total of 10% and 20% wood were mixed with coal. The thickness and heat flux were obtained. The collected ash deposits and fly ash were characterized by a series of analysis methods to determine the physical and mineral properties. Their relationships were also revealed. Results showed that co-firing of coal with wood dramatically increased the ash deposition propensity. During the coal combustion, shedding of ash deposit occurred and the maximum deposit thickness was 15.33 mm. A deposit thickness of up to 27.02 mm was achieved for 10% wood, and the thickness increased to 34.20 mm for 20% wood. The variation in heat flux with deposit thickness substantially changed when wood was co-fired. A significant change was also observed in the mineral composition of ash deposit with the increase in wood ratio. The proportion of anorthite increased because that of lime in fly ash increased with wood ratio. In addition, the mean diameter of fly ash particles increased as wood ratio increased.     

Influence of sintering on the growth rate of particulate fouling layers

This article addresses the question; why the gas-side temperature affects the rate of particulate fouling of heat exchangers? An experiment was carried out in a gas-cooler of a full-scale biomass gasifier to investigate the influence of the gas-side temperature on the strength, structure and growth rate of particulate fouling layers. It is observed that the particulate fouling rate in the gas cooler decreases with sintering, which is a function of the gas-side temperature. Detailed impaction experiments are carried out to investigate the influence of sintering on the removal of particles from a particulate fouling layer due to an incident particle impact as well as the sticking of an incident particle to a particulate fouling layer. Sintering of a fouling layer lowers significantly the ability of an incident particle to stick to the fouling layer or to remove particles out of the layer. However, particles that are still able to deposit on the sintered fouling layer will not sinter immediately, and can be removed due to the incident particles impact. The removal of newly deposited particles on a fouling layer due to incident particles becomes easier as sintering of the fouling layer takes place. Accordingly, it may be stated that sintering reduces the fouling rate of heat exchangers by lowering the deposition of new particles and increasing the removal rate of newly deposited particles. This explains why the growth rate of particulate fouling layers decreases with the gas-side temperature.     

Fouling Reduction Characteristics of a No-Distributor-Fluidized-Bed Heat Exchanger for Flue Gas Heat Recovery

Heat exchangers and heat exchanger networks are extensively used for the purpose of recovering energy. In conventional flue gas heat recovery systems, the fouling by fly ashes and the related problems such as corrosion and cleaning are known to be major drawbacks. To overcome these problems, a single-riser no-distributor-fluidized-bed heat exchanger is devised and studied. Fouling and cleaning tests are performed for a uniquely designed fluidized bed-type heat exchanger to demonstrate the effect of particles on the fouling reduction and heat transfer enhancement. The tested heat exchanger model (1 m high and 54 mm internal diameter) is a gas-to-water type and composed of a main vertical tube and four auxiliary tubes through which particles circulate and transfer heat. Through the present study, the fouling on the heat transfer surface could successfully be simulated by controlling air-to-fuel ratios rather than introducing particles through an external feeder, which produced soft deposit layers with 1 to 1.5 mm thickness on the inside pipe wall. Flue gas temperature at the inlet of heat exchanger was maintained at 450°C at the gas volume rate of 0.738 to 0.768 CMM (0.0123 to 0.0128 m³/sec). From the analyses of the measured data, heat transfer performances of the heat exchanger before and after fouling and with and without particles were evaluated. Results showed that soft deposits were easily removed by introducing glass bead particles, and also heat transfer performance increased two times by the particle circulation. In addition, it was found that this type of heat exchanger had high potential to recover heat of waste gases from furnaces, boilers, and incinerators effectively and to reduce fouling related problems.     

Combustion performance and slagging characteristics during co-combustion of Zhundong coal and sludge

Zhundong coal (ZDc) with a very large reserve is faced with severe problems of slagging and fouling during combustion in boilers because of the high-Na content. Sludge, the by-product of urban sewage treatment, is also faced with the problem in utilization. In this study, the co-combustion of ZDc and sludge was investigated in a laboratory-scale experimental apparatus before further studies in larger-scale setups. The experimental results confirm an interaction between ZDc and sludge during co-combustion, which was mainly caused by the Na catalytic action and improved the combustion performance of the co-fuels. The catalytic effect was particularly significant at low sludge mixing ratios. The reactions between Na-based compounds in ZDc and Si/Al/P-rich minerals in sludge, forming high-melting-point phosphates and aluminosilicates, not only increased Na retention in residual ash reducing the risk of fouling on tail-heating surfaces in boilers, but also raised the ash fusibility of the co-fuels avoiding low-temperature sintering. Even so, to prevent slagging, the high combustion temperature above 900 °C should be avoided during co-combustion because of the high Na retention in residual ash. Moreover, the high heavy metal retention in residual ash decreased the pollution caused by heavy metal volatilization during sludge combustion.     

Experimental observation of surface morphology effect on crystallization fouling in plate heat exchangers

In this study, stainless steel test plates with different surface roughness and textures, which are used as the heat transfer surface of a plate heat exchanger, are tested individually in calcium carbonate fouling experiments. The present experimental results clearly indicate a strong correlation between the surface roughness and the amount of crystallization fouling deposit. Through detailed image analysis, four stages of the formation of crystallization fouling are identified, and the impact of the surface morphology on the extent of crystallization fouling is described qualitatively.     

Optimization of a 50 MW bubbling fluidized bed biomass combustion chamber by means of computational particle fluid dynamics

An efficient utilization of biomass fuels in power plants is often limited by the melting behavior of the biomass ash, which causes unplanned shutdowns of the plants. If the melting temperature of the ash is locally exceeded, deposits can form on the walls of the combustion chamber. In this paper, a bubbling fluidized bed combustion chamber with 50 MW biomass input is investigated that severely suffers deposit build-up in the freeboard during operation. The deposit layers affect the operation negatively in two ways: they act as an additional heat resistance in regions of heat extraction, and they can come off the wall and fall into the bed and negatively influence the fluidization behavior. To detect zones where ash melting can occur, the temperature distribution in the combustion chamber is calculated numerically using the commercial CPFD (computational particle fluid dynamics) code, Barracuda Version 15. Regions where the ash melting temperature is exceeded are compared with the fouling observed on the walls in the freeboard. The numerically predicted regions agree well with the observed location of the deposits on the walls. Next, the model is used to find an optimized operating point with fewer regions in which the ash melting temperature is exceeded. Therefore, three cases with different distributions of the inlet gas streams are simulated. The simulations show if the air inlet streams are moved from the freeboard to the necking area above the bed a more even temperature distribution is obtained over the combustion chamber. Hence, the areas where the ash melting temperatures are exceeded are reduced significantly and the formation of deposits in the optimized operational mode is much less likely.     

Effects of ash fouling on heat transfer during combustion of cattle biomass in a small‐scale boiler burner facility under unsteady transition conditions

Combustion of cattle biomass (CB) as a supplementary fuel has been proposed for reducing emissions of NO_x, Hg, SO₂, and nonrenewable CO₂ in large coal‐fired power plants; however, its high ash content resulted in fouling and slagging problems when the CB was co‐fired with coals during small‐ and pilot‐scale tests. Ash depositions during combustion of the CB as a reburn fuel were investigated using a 30 kW_t (100 000 Btu h^?1) boiler burner facility with water‐cooled heat exchangers (HEXs) under unsteady transition conditions and short‐term operations. Two parameters were used to characterize the effects of the ash deposition: (1) Overall heat transfer coefficient (U) and (2) Burnt fraction (BF). A methodology was presented and empirically demonstrated for the effects of ash deposition on heat transfer under unsteady transition conditions. Experiments involving ash deposition during reburning the CB with coals were compared with experiments involving only ash‐less natural gas. It was found that the growth of the ash layer during reburning the CB and coals lowered the heat transfer rate to water in the HEXs. In low‐temperature regions, the thin layer of the ash deposition promoted radiation effects, while the thick layer of the ash deposition promoted the thermal resistance of the ash layer. A chemical analysis of the heavy ash indicated that the BF increased when a larger fraction of the CB was used in the reburn fuels, indicating better performance compared with coal combustion alone. However, the results of ash fusion temperature indicated the ash deposited during combustion of the CB and coals was more difficult to remove than the ash deposited during coal combustion alone. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

煤燃烧过程中矿物质蒸发与煤灰的沉积特性

通过典型煤种的实验和模拟计算驿煤燃烧过程中主要矿物质的蒸发进行了详细的研究，探讨了煤灰组成、燃烧温度和燃烧气氛等因素对这些矿物质蒸发的影响，然后结合几种红典沉积判别指数和已知煤的结渣倾向，分析了煤中主要矿物质蒸发与煤灰沉积的关系，得出了与实际相符的新结论。     

三维变形管管内积灰特性数值模拟研究

烟气中的高灰分、高黏度、高腐蚀性成分不可避免地造成换热器烟气侧换热面积灰结垢的问题,如何有效解决这些问题一直是烟气换热器研究的焦点之一。三维变形管内的螺旋流增强了管内流体的湍动程度从而实现强化传热,基于其内部灰尘受气流携带而处于湍动便不易沉积的特点,本文通过数值模拟的方法探讨了三维变形管几何参数、粒径、气体流速对灰尘颗粒沉积率的影响。结果表明,在给定的粒径范围内,烟气流速和三维变形管的几何参数对灰分沉积率有重大影响。随着螺距和烟气流速的增大,灰尘颗粒沉积率降低,然而灰尘颗粒沉积率随着长短轴比和平均粒径的增大而增加。