Co-combustion of Korean anthracite with bituminous coal in two circulating fluidized bed combustors

The co-combustion characteristics for Korean anthracites and bituminous coals were determined in a lab-scale CFB reactor and the commercial scale Tonghae CFB Power Plant. In the lab-scale CFB combustion tests, the effluent rate of the emission gases, which can indicate the reactivity of the combustion, did not change appreciably when each coal burned. As the bituminous coal was added, however, the effluent rate of the emissions increased. The amount of the unburned carbon in ash decreased with increasing the ratio of the bituminous coal during the co-combustion. When the co-combustion was tested in the Tonghae CFB power plant, the temperatures at the upper part of the combustor and the cyclones, which were somewhat higher than designed and expected, could be reduced as the bituminous coal ratio increased. Consequently, more stable operation of the CFB boiler was achieved. The efficiency of the CFB boiler also increased due to increasing the reactivity of the combustion. This work was presented at the 6 ^th Korea-China Workshop on Clean Energy Technology held at Busan, Korea, July 4–7, 2006.     

Co-combustion of coal and biomass in a circulating fluidized bed combustor

In this research, co-combustion of coal and rice husk was studied in a circulating fluidized bed combustor (CFBC). The effects of mixed fuel ratios, primary air and secondary air flow rates on temperature and gas concentration profiles along riser (0.1 m inside diameter and 3.0 m height) were studied. The average particle size of coal from Maetah used in this work was 1,128 mm and bed material was sand. The range of primary air flow rates was 480–920 l/min corresponding to U _g of 1.0–2.0 m/s for coal feed rate at 5.8 kg/h. The recirculation rate through L-valve was 100 kg/hr. It was found that the temperatures along the riser were rather steady at about 800–1,000 degrees Celsius. The introduction of secondary air improved combustion and temperature gradient at the bottom of the riser, particularly at a primary air flow rate below 1.5 m/s. Blending of coal with biomass, rice husk, did improve the combustion efficiency of coal itself even at low concentration of rice husk of 3.5 wt%. In addition, the presence of rice husk in the feed stocks reduced the emission of both NO _x and SO₂.     

Evaluation of the performance of a commercial circulating fluidized bed boiler by using IEA-CFBC model: Effect of primary to secondary air ratio

The performance of a commercial circulating fluidized bed boiler in the Yeosu thermal power plant, which has been operating since October 2011 by KOSEP, has been evaluated by using the IEA-CFBC model. To validate the calculation procedure of the model, the calculated results were compared with the operation values such as the temperatures, pressures, emissions of SO₂ and NO, particles size distribution and unburned carbon fraction of the CFB boiler at a certain actual condition. The calculated results were comparable to measured values from the CFB boiler, so these could conform to acceptable formats with a good accuracy. The effect of the primary to secondary air ratio on the performance of the CFB boiler was also determined. As the primary air ratio increased, the solid fraction and temperature in the furnace freeboard increased. As a result, the solid circulation rate and the heat absorption in the furnace increased with increasing the PA ratio. In the case of the amount of heat absorption, the wall tube of the furnace absorbed much more generation heat in the furnace than the wing wall tube. The SO₂ emission decreased due to increase of the limestone hold up in the furnace, and the combustion efficiency somewhat increased with increasing the PA ratio. Therefore, from these results, we could expect to control the boiler performance such as the furnace temperature, steam temperatures of superheater or reheater, gaseous emissions and combustion efficiency through the changing the PA ratio of the CFB boiler.     

A simplified model of nitric oxide emission from a circulating fluidized bed combustor

A simplified mathematical model leading to a closed form of solution is developed for estimation of nitric oxide emission from a coal fired circulating fluidized bed (CFB) furnace. The furnace is divided into two sections: a lower section below and an upper section above the secondary air injection level. Reactions in the cyclone and the return leg are neglected. Furnace dimensions, coal feed rate, coal composition and furnace temperature are inputs to the model which was validated against several pilot scale and commercial units. Experimental results from two pilot plants and two commercial power plants agree with model predictions. A sensitivity analysis was carried out using the model to examine the effect of different operating parameters and coal properties on the overall NO emission from the furnace. It was found that excess air and furnace temperature are most important factors influencing the NO emission level. The primary to secondary air ratio influences the NO emission level reasonably. Properties of coal are other factors which affect the NO emission to a large extent. The model, though it invovles some simplification, predicts the overall emission of NO with a level of accuracy accepted in commercial operation.     

Experimental trends of NO in circulating fluidized bed combustion

Experimental trends for the dependence of CO, NO and N₂O emissions on bed temperature and oxygen concentration in circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFB) are presented. The main focus is on the nitrogen emission formation in the lower furnace area. A test campaign including seven tests with a laboratory scale CFB test rig were carried out to produce appropriate data of the phenomena. These experiments show that NO emissions above the dense bed decrease with decreasing temperature or oxygen concentration. Instead, N₂O emissions increase when the bed temperature is decreased and decrease when the oxygen concentration is decreased. These trends can partly be explained by heterogeneous reactions between NO and char, since decrease in temperature or oxygen concentration increases the bed char inventory. However, oxygen and temperature also affect directly on NO emissions. Correlations for the CO, NO, N₂O, NH₃ and HCN concentrations at the exit of dense bed were developed. This type of correlations can, among other things, be applied as boundary conditions to the more sophisticated CFD models that are usually applied to modelling of diluted part of the furnace. CFD modelling of the dense bed area is complicated and accuracy is not sufficient, thus simplified experimental correlations can aid in the development of furnace design towards better emission performance.     

An innovative bed temperature-oriented modeling and robust control of a circulating fluidized bed combustor

Circulating fluidized bed (CFB) combustion systems are increasingly used as superior coal burning systems in power generation due to their higher efficiency and lower emissions. However, because of their non-linearity and complex behavior, it is difficult to build a comprehensive model that incorporates all the system dynamics. In this paper, a mathematical model of the circulating fluidized bed combustion system based on mass and energy conservation equations was successfully extracted. Using these correlations, a state space dynamical model oriented to bed temperature has been obtained based on subspace method. Bed temperature, which influences boiler overall efficiency and the rate of pollutants emission, is one of the most significant parameters in the operation of these types of systems. Having dynamic and parametric uncertainties in the model, a robust control algorithm based on linear matrix inequalities (LMI) have been applied to control the bed temperature by input parameters, i.e. coal feed rate and fluidization velocity. The controller proposed properly sets the temperature to our desired range with a minimum tracking error and minimizes the sensitivity of the closed-loop system to disturbances caused by uncertainties such as change in feeding coal, while the settling time of the system is significantly decreased.     

Combustion of poultry-derived fuel in a coal-fired pilot-scale circulating fluidized bed combustor

Poultry farming generates large quantities of waste. The current practice is to spread this waste onto farmland as fertilizer. However, as the factory farms for poultry grow both in numbers and size, the amount of waste generated has increased significantly in recent years. In consequence, excessive application of poultry wastes on farmland is resulting in more and more nutrients entering the surface water. One of the options being considered is the use of poultry waste as power plant fuel. Since poultry-derived fuel (PDF) is biomass, its co-firing will have the added advantage of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power generation. To evaluate the combustion characteristics of co-firing PDF with coal, combustion tests were conducted in CanmetENERGY's pilot-scale circulating fluidized bed combustor (CFBC). The goal of this program was to verify that PDF can be co-fired with coal and, more importantly, that emissions from the combustion process are not adversely affected by the presence of PDF in the feed. The test results were very promising and support the idea that co-firing in an existing CFBC boiler firing coal is a good way to utilize PDF, resolving a potential waste disposal problem while reducing the amount of CO₂ released from the boiler.     

Enhancement of combustion efficiency with mixing ratio during fluidized bed combustion of anthracite and bituminous blended coal

In order to investigate the effect of mixing ratio of bituminous coal to blended coal on the enhancement of combustion efficiency, combustion experiments of blended coal with anthracite and bituminous are done in a laboratory scale fluidized bed combustor (10.8 cm ID and 170 cm height). The gross heating values of anthracite and bituminous coal used in this study are 2,810 cal/g and 6,572 cal/g, respectively. Experimental parameters are fuel feed rate, superficial gas velocity and mixing ratio of bituminous coal to blended coal. The combustion efficiency increases with the mixing ratio of bituminous coal due to the lower unburned carbon losses and higher burning velocity of bituminous coal. The rate of combustion in the combustor was increased with mixing ratio resulted from a higher burning velocity of bituminous coal. The measured combustion efficiency experimentally is about 3.5-12.4% higher than that of the calculated value based on the individual combustion of anthracite and bituminous coal under the same operating conditions. The optimum mixing ratio (MR) of bituminous coal determined is around 0.75 in this study. This paper is dedicated to Professor Dong Sup Doh on the occasion of his retirement from Korea University.     

A simplified model of SO2 capture by limestone in 71 MWe pressurized fluidized bed combustor

A mathematical model of SO₂ capture by uncalcined limestone particles with solid attrition under pressurized fluidized bed combustion conditions was developed based on the shrinking unreacted-core model. Since the thickness of the product layer is sufficiently much smaller than the particle size, a flat surface model was employed. The difference in SO₂ capture behavior between continuous solid attrition and intermittent attrition was investigated. The reaction rate for intermittent solid attrition was found to be lower than that for continuous attrition mode under low SO₂ concentration conditions. A simple mathematical expression to calculate reaction rate of SO₂ capture per unit external surface area of limestone is proposed.The present simplified mathematical model of SO₂ capture by single limestone particle under periodical attrition conditions was applied to the analysis of a large-scale pressurized fluidized bed combustor. By giving the period of attrition as a parameter, the experimental results agreed well with the model results. From the vertical concentration profile of SO₂ concentration, the emission of SO₂ was found to be governed by the balance between SO₂ formation rate from char and SO₂ capture by limestone at the upper surface of the dense bed. A simplified expression to estimate SO₂ emission from pressurized fluidized bed combustors was proposed.     

Pressure fluctuation properties in combustion of mixture of anthracite and bituminous coal in a fluidized bed

The combustion characteristics of a mixture of anthracite and bituminous coal were studied in a 0.155 m i.d. fluidized bed combustor (FBC). The properties of the pressure fluctuation for the bed such as the standard deviation, cross-correlation function, dominant frequency and the power spectral density function were obtained through statistical analysis. To interpret the combustion characteristics in the FBC with uniform or multi-sized particles of anthracitebituminous coal mixture, the properties of pressure fluctuation were determined as a function of the particle size distribution and anthracite mixing fraction. In the present work, it is known that the combustion region could be obtained from the analysis of pressure fluctuation properties, and the mixed-firing of anthracite-bituminous coal is related to the reaction models of both coals and particle size distribution. Moreover, the relation between coal size distribution and static mean pressure, and the ignition region could be obtained from the mean pressure profile.     

Modelling and experimental investigation of devolatilizing wood in a fluidized bed combustor

A two-dimensional model is developed for the determination of devolatilization time and char yield of cylindrical wood particles in a bubbling fluidized bed combustor. By using the concept of shape factor, the model is extended to particles of cuboid shape. The model prediction of the devolatilization time agrees with the measured data (present and those reported in the literature) for cylindrical and cuboidal shaped particles within ±20% while the char yield is predicted within ±17%. Influence of some important parameters namely, thermal diffusivity, external heat transfer coefficient and shrinkage, on the devolatilization time and char yield are studied. Thermal diffusivity shows noticeable influence on devolatilization time. The external heat transfer coefficient shows little influence beyond a value of 300 W/(m² K). However particle shrinkage shows negligible effect on the devolatilization time but has a significant influence on the char yield.     

Gas backmixing in the dense region of a circulating fluidized bed

The gas backmixing characteristics in a circulating fluidized bed (0.1 m-IDx5.3-m high) have been determined. The gas backmixing coefficient (D_ba) from the axial dispersion model in a low velocity fluidization region increases with increasing gas velocity. The effect of gas velocity onD _ba in the bubbling bed is more pronounced compared to that in the Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB). In the dense region of a CFB, the two-phase model is proposed to calculate D_bc from the two-phase model and mass transfer coefficient (k) between the crowd phase and dispersed phase. The gas backmixing coefficient and the mass transfer coefficient between the two phases increase with increasing the ratio of average particle to gas velocities (U_p/U_g).     

Process characteristics investigation of simulated circulating fluidized bed combustion combined with coal pyrolysis

A poly-generation process of simulated circulating fluidized bed (CFB) combustion combined with coal pyrolysis was developed in a laboratory scale. Pyrolysis characteristics of three bituminous coals with high volatile contents were investigated in a fixed bed with capacity of 10 kg solid samples. The effects of initial temperature of solid heat carrier, pyrolysis holding time, blending (ash/coal) ratio and coal particle size on gas and tar yields were studied experimentally. The results indicate that the initial temperature of the heat carrier is the key factor that affects the gas and tar yield, and the gas composition. Most of the gas and the tar are released during the first few minutes of the pyrolysis holding time. For caking coal, the amount of char agglomerating on the pyrolyzer inner wall is reduced by enhancing the blending ratio. The experimental results may provide basic engineering data or information for the process design of CFB combustion combined with coal pyrolysis in a large scale.     

循环床锅炉炉膛压降及轴向固体浓度的计算

本文提出了循环流化床锅炉炉膛的轴向压力及固体浓度分布的计算式。当给出表观气、循环固体流率以及颗粒性质时，可准确地预测炉膛压降与轴向固体浓度分布，为炉膛设计提供了计算依据。     

Wear of water walls in a commercial circulating fluidized bed combustor with two gas exits

The tube thickness profiles of water walls, including wing walls, were measured in a large commercial circulating fluidized bed furnace (200 tonnes steam/h, 4.97 m × 9.90 m × 28.98 m high) by means of an ultrasonic thickness gauge in order to investigate tube wastage patterns. Wastage of all water walls, including wing walls, was significant in the transition region just above the refractory lining around the circumference of the combustor, especially at the center of the sidewalls and both sides of the front and rear walls. The lateral wear profile seemed to be influenced mainly by secondary flow, stronger toward the center than in the corners, and somewhat by the wing walls and two gas exits. Wastage of some tubes was also found to be appreciable around the gas exit. The lateral profiles of tube thickness at the gas exit level and other findings indicate asymmetric flows between the two exits.     

Analysis of model parameters affecting the pressure profile in a circulating fluidized bed

This study focuses on continuum model validation of the flow of air and small catalyst particles in a circulating fluidized bed. Comparison with available experimental data of pressure drop and solids circulation rate in the riser clearly demonstrates the need to modify the homogeneous drag model to accurately predict the formation of clusters of particles, which are typically observed in the fluidization of small particles. The need to correct the drag law is also demonstrated in simulations of polydisperse powder flows wherein three solids species are used to represent a typical catalyst size distribution. Finally, particle‐wall friction is found to have the most significant effect on the vertical gas pressure gradient while particle–particle friction has only a minor effect. Published 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 427–439, 2012     

A model for the pressure balance of a low density circulating fluidized bed

The pressure balance along the solid circulation loop of a circulating fluidized bed equipped with a solid flux regulating device has been modelled and the influence of the pressure balance on the riser behaviour has been predicted.The solid circulation loop has been divided into many sections, where the pressure drop was calculated independently: riser, cyclone, standpipe, control device and return duct. A new theoretical model, that is able to predict the pressure losses in the return path of the solid from the standpipe to the riser, has been built. A new correlation for cyclone pressure loss with very high solid loads has been found on the basis of experimental data.The pressure loss in the riser has been calculated by imposing the closure of the pressure balance, ΣΔP = 0. Once the riser pressure drop had been calculated, the holdup distribution along the riser was obtained by imposing a particular shape of the profile, according to the different fluid-dynamics regimes (fast fluidization or pneumatic transport). In the first case, an exponential decay was imposed and the bottom holdup was adjusted to fit the total pressure drop, in the second case, the height of the dense zone was instead varied.The experimental data was used to develop the sub-models for the various loop sections have been obtained in a 100 mm i.d. riser, 6 m high, CFB. The solid was made of Geldart B group alumina particles. The tests were carried out with a gas velocity that ranged between 2 and 4 m/s and a solid flux that ranged between 20 and 170 kg/m²s. A good agreement was found between the model and experimental data.     

三相循环流化床内流化固体颗粒的防除垢机理

汽液固三相循环流化床蒸发器已应用到盐化、烧碱、中药和造纸等工业中,表现出良好的防除垢性能。文中研究了这种新型流化床蒸发器的防、除垢机理。首先揭示出汽液固三相流剪应力对延长污垢的诱导期起主要作用,并对汽液固三相流剪应力和三相流剪应力增长率进行了定量计算,分析其影响因素。其次从污垢附着和剥蚀的角度,考察了固体颗粒的除垢作用。根据理论分析指出三相流剪应力对污垢附着需要的时间和污垢剥蚀比率的影响,从而计算了剥蚀比例和剥蚀速率及其影响因素。     

Effects of steam on the sulfation of limestone and NOx formation in an air- and oxy-fired pilot-scale circulating fluidized bed combustor

The existing fluidized bed combustion literature on sulfation shows that above 30% conversion, direct sulfation via reaction with CaCO₃ is faster than indirect sulfation with CaO. However, while this is true for dry flue gases, it is not the case if steam (H₂O_(g)) is present at realistic levels for coal combustion, and it has been confirmed by experiments employing thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and tube furnace (TF) testing that direct sulfation is in fact slower than indirect sulfation for nearly all levels of conversion if steam (H₂O_(g)) is present. In this work we have also examined the effects of H₂O_(g) on SO₂ capture and NH₃ oxidation to NO_x over calcium-containing compounds under air- and oxy-fired conditions in a pilot-scale circulating fluidized bed combustor (CFBC) utilizing limestone addition. The results of the pilot-scale tests confirm suggestions from our previous work that sulfur capture from the air firing of low-moisture fuels benefits from steam-sulfation. For petroleum coke, the addition of 8%vol H₂O_(g) resulted in increased SO₂ retention and Ca utilization, as well as decreased NO_x emissions by up to 44%. The simultaneous reduction of SO₂ and NO_x was attributed to enhanced solid-state diffusion (sintering) by H₂O_(g). Under oxy-fuel-firing conditions, H₂O_(g) addition also resulted in decreased NO_x emissions, but the pilot-scale tests showed poorer sulfur capture performance and calcium utilization as compared to air firing when H₂O_(g) was present, thereby reconfirming the TGA/TF results. It appears that most bench-scale work on sulfation to date has underestimated the true rate of reaction for sulfation in the presence of H₂O_(g). This conclusion explains at least in part why indirect sulfation is often faster than direct sulfation in pilot plant studies on oxy-fuel circulating fluidized bed combustion. Moreover, this work stresses the importance of including H₂O_(g) in bench-scale experiments that attempt to simulate real combustion environments.     

Combustion modelling of coal volatiles in the freeboard of a calorimetric fluidized bed combustor

A simplified kinetic approach, based on functional groups of the parent coal, was coupled with the bed hydrodynamics and a volatiles evolution region within the bed to conduct a parametric study with the experimental results obtained from a calorimetric fluidized bed combustor (FBC). The model results revealed that, for high-volatile coals with particle diameters of 1–3 mm, the fraction of the original volatiles burnt above the bed may be as high as 0.44-0.20, 0.36-0.09 and 0.30-0.02 for excess air levels ranging from 0 to 40% and bed temperatures of 800, 850 and 900°C respectively. For a low-volatile coal, the computed fractions were found to be in the ranges 0.35-0.08, 0.29-0.01 and 0.25-0.00 for similar operating conditions to the above. Good agreement between the model and experimental data suggests that the evolution of volatiles for coal particle diameters <5 mm is mechanistically controlled by both diffusion and chemical kinetics, while their combustion is largely governed by the mixing of volatiles and oxygen in the bed region.